Van Gaal accuses FC Barcelona board of racism against foreigners

Amid all the criticism against his compatriots, Louis van Gaal made some serious accusations against the FC Barcelona board and Catalans.

When Louis van Gaal was FC Barcelona’s manager, he didn’t receive the best treatment during those years. Although he won the Spanish La Liga once, the Dutch coach was always questioned as Ronald Koeman is questioned today. It may be true that people from Catalonia tend to be inclined towards supporting their own people. This is a trope that happens pretty often in the region.

Catalans can be very jealous of their own culture and any outsider needs a long time to be accepted. Van Gaal lived through this for a long time and he always felt like an outsider. But insinuating there is any racism involved in the way their treat foreigners might be regarded as a step too far. Making these types of accusations are good enough reason to become a ‘persona non-grata’ in the city of Barcelona. Even though he was responsible for discovering the club’s greatest generation, these are unfounded claims from Van Gaal.

🎙Dutch NT coach Louis van Gaal. 🇳🇱

🗣 "When everything is going well and you make great contributions, as Frenkie has done, then there is nothing to worry about. But when things go wrong, Barcelona people always look to foreigners, and it applies for the coach as well." pic.twitter.com/aeyhF6Stqt
— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) October 10, 2021

Van Gaal defends his Dutch countrymen.

In a recent interview picked up by Goal, Louis van Gaal clearly hints at racism happening in Catalonia. He was questioned about the criticism that players such as Frenkie de Jong or Memphis Depay are getting recently. Also, he defended Ronald Koeman without even mentioning his name. This won’t sit well with the board of directors but Van Gaal is no longer linked to FC Barcelona in any way. Here’s what the Netherlands’ manager said: “Frenkie de Jong, criticized? It’s typical [at] Barcelona.

“When you have the great contributions he’s had in the past two years, there’s not too much to worry about. [But] when things go bad, people in Barcelona always look for the foreigners [to blame]. When I look at the data from Memphis, I’ve never had a striker like this. Someone who runs so much, goes deep so many times and gets into the ball so much. That’s commendable.”