Van Gaal is coming too? Indonesia's "World Cup gamble" has been upgraded

The reporter reported coldly After the sudden announcement of the resignation of the national team coach Shen Tailong, the Indonesian Football Association did not officially announce who the new coach was for the first time. But the "surprise" that the president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tohir, has prepared for his own fans and the outside world, but it is not just a single coach. He probably also knew that Kluivert, as a coach, was afraid that his weight and aura were not strong enough.

Following the disclosure that Kluivert will be the coach of Indonesia, European media have reported that Dutch coach Louis van Gaal will serve as the technical director of the Indonesian Football Association. Van Gaal and Kluivert's "Dutch old and young" has become the biggest adventure of the Indonesian Football Association President Tohir to gamble on the World Cup. Because it means that two Dutch celebrities who don't know much about Asian football led the Indonesian team, which is dominated by naturalized players from the Dutch background, to fight for the Indonesian team to enter the World Cup in only 4 games.

From an onlooker's point of view, Thohir's change of coach was impatient and too hasty. Although he had the idea of changing the coach in the round of 18 last October, he did not enter the operation stage until the end of last year. Tohir, who also served as the minister of state-owned enterprises in Indonesia, deliberately took a leave of absence from the Indonesian president and flew to the Netherlands to interview three candidates for the new manager. The interview process lasted for six days (December 25-30), but on December 25, Tohir only saw Kluivert alone, and the process lasted only two hours to decide the fate of the Indonesian team in 2025.

Tohir believes that two and a half months from the appearance of the new technical director and coach of the Indonesian team on January 12 to the end of March before the round of 18 matches are enough to familiarize the Dutch coaching team with Indonesian football. He even plans to have the Dutch coaching staff meet with homegrown internationals at that time, trying to create an atmosphere where naturalisation and homegrown players are treated equally. But the arrival of Louis van Gaal and Kluivert proves that the "Dutchization" of the Indonesian team is the priority criterion. Tohir stressed that the change of coach is to solve the problem of cultural differences and communication barriers within the Indonesian team, which has nearly 20 naturalized internationals with Dutch background, this obstacle can only be completely "Dutchized".

And Tohir's choice of Van Gaal and Kluivert "old and young", even the Indonesian media and fans are deeply skeptical of the possibility of success. There are still doubts about whether Van Gaal can become technical director, and Dutch legend Ruud Gullit claims to have asked Kluivert himself and received a negative answer. Gullit highlighted that when he was the Dutch coach in 2022, Louis van Gaal had multiple health problems. Now 73 years old, Van Gaal has announced his retirement, leaving him with only an idle position as an advisor to Ajax FC. Gullit believes that the role of technical director requires a lot of long travel, and Van Gaal's body may be difficult to bear.

There is no clear answer to the exact division of labor between the Indonesian national team's technical director and coach. Therefore, Van Gaal may be more like the "image ambassador" of the Indonesian team's "Dutchization" development strategy, and by the way, he stands up for his disciple Kluivert.

As for Kluivert's coaching ability, it has also been strongly questioned by the Indonesian media and fans. Of the previously mentioned Dutch coaching candidates, Kluivert had the least experience and the worst performance. Kluivert has been the head coach four times, and although he advocates an attacking style of football, he has scored more goals but also conceded a lot. Among them, he coached 46 games for FC Twente's U21 team, scoring and conceding 116 to 92 goals; coached Adana in 20 games, scoring 41 to 29 goals; Curacao, who has twice coached the CONCACAF team, has played a total of 14 games, scoring 27 goals to 17.

Van Gaal and Kluivert's "old and young match" looks perfect. But as the Indonesian media feared, the combination was fatally flawed. Louis van Gaal is experienced but not strong enough to handle the rigors of international competition, while Kluivert, who has had little to offer in the past, has limited managerial ability, and both are too new to Indonesian and Asian football. In just two and a half months, it was not enough to get into the role quickly, and the two were not even familiar with the naturalized Dutch players of the Indonesian team.

This time, Tohir's "overall change of coach" for the Indonesian team is essentially no different from the Saudi Football Association's bet on Mancini. In other words, Tohir is more aggressive than the Saudis, because he is counting on the Dutch coach to complete Indonesia's dream of entering the World Cup in at least four games.

But if the expectations are too high, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The Indonesian media is concerned that it is too risky and unrealistic to tie the long-term strategy of Indonesian football and the dream of the World Cup to two Dutch coaches who are not in their prime, and who are not familiar with Asian football. Moreover, considering and evaluating various factors, the probability of failure is much higher than that of success. In addition, Tohir's fame and the Dutchized Indonesian team are both a win and a loss. The success of the Indonesian team will certainly give Tohir unprecedented influence, but the defeat will also bring unprecedented public pressure. The Indonesian tycoon and politician issued a high-profile military order last year to "resign if he does not qualify", and if he retires due to the defeat of the Indonesian team, the Indonesian football development strategy he has promoted will also be dealt a heavy blow.