Barcelona and Bulgaria legend Hristo Stoichkov has slammed Louis Van Gaal and revealed that his departure from the club was solely due to the Dutchman.
Stoichkov had two spells at Barcelona, but he will be remembered for the first one rather than the second. In the first spell, Stoichkov made close to 150 appearances for the club and scored 77 goals. He is regarded as one of the best ever strikers to play for the Catalans and probably the best ever Bulgarian player.
Stoichkov was quoted saying by the Daily Mirror, a I have no respect for him, hea s scum.
a One day, when I was injured, I was with my wife at the Camp Nou and Van Gaal went up to her and asked her how it was possible she had married someone like me.
a She replied that I was a Ballon d’Or winner. My departure from the club in 1998 was Van Gaala s fault for sure.a
Known for his bad temper, Stoichkov has had his share of bans as he could rarely control his temper on the pitch at times. Although he did know how to channel some of that and score goals. The Bulgarian lifted the European golden shoe award in 1990 before winning the Ballon d’Or in 1994, the same year where he starred for Bulgaria in the World Cup held in USA and lifted the World Cup Golden Shoe award for his six goals.
Louis van Gaal’s second stint at Barcelona did not end well. The Dutchman was sacked by the club in 2003 as the side were just three points above the relegation zone and were in miserable form. His first stint brought the club a lot of success however as they managed to win the league twice and lifted the Copa Del Rey once.
Jose Mourinho was more than an interpreter, claims Stoichkov
Stoichkov also admitted that current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had always been a coach of sorts, but felt the Portuguese did not rate himself highly in his Barcelona days, a I dona t think Mourinho was just an interpreter or assistant. He was already a Coach but he never thought he was worth more than Robson.
a Mourinho understood everything. He knew everything about our team and our opponents.a
Van Gaal’s first year at Manchester United has been a decent one so far as the club find themselves in the top four and will most likely qualify for the Champions League unless they suffer a dire dip in form. The side can maybe challenge for the title next season if they make the right moves in the summer.