Louis Van Gaal is always striving to innovate and this break from the FIFA Dates Championship was no exception.
The Netherlands coach initially called up four goalkeepers for the Nations League announcements against Poland and Belgium, but revealed on Monday that he had called up two more goalkeepers – Kiel Scherbin (Vitesse) and Justin Bello (Fyenoord) – with the aim of understanding those. Who, out of this group of six, would be the best to defend penalty kicks, with the focus already on the 2022 World Cup.
And to improve the training sessions, there is something else new: Peter Murphy, the former Dutch volleyball coach, will join the coaching staff on a temporary basis to help Van Gaal analyze these details (which often become more in the final stages).
“We have to train this side now because there will be a little bit of preparation before the World Cup. It is a very important detail, penalties are often very decisive in major competitions and we have to pay extra attention to this,” the coach said, also revealing that he would take four goalkeepers In the 26-man squad for the finals in Qatar (the Netherlands will face Ecuador, Senegal and Qatar in the group stage).
At the 2014 World Cup, for example, Van Gaal was surprised to change goalkeepers in the last minute of extra time against Costa Rica, in the quarter-finals. Jasper Cillessen was replaced by Tim Kroll and the fact that the goalkeeper played a decisive role, saving two shots in the penalty shootout (4-3 for the orange team).
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