Louis van Gaal

Van Gaal is one of the most well-respected coaches in Europe, having found success both in Holland and Spain, but turned his attention to Germany when he agreed a deal with Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in May 2009.

He enjoyed a fractious time with the press during his days in charge of Ajax and Barcelona and van Gaal's outspoken nature has earned him many critics, although his record of winning trophies speaks for itself.

As a player, van Gaal had an undistinguished career playing for the likes of Royal Antwerp, Sparta Rotterdam and AZ Alkmaar. He notched up nearly 250 appearances for Sparta as a midfielder, but really made his name when he moved into management.

After ending his playing career with AZ in 1987, he moved to Ajax to become Leo Beenhakker's assistant. When Beenhakker left suddenly in 1991 to take over the reins at Real Madrid, van Gaal was appointed as manager, but was not accepted by the press.

His spiky demeanour made him and unpopular choice and DeTelegraaf spearheaded a campaign to replace him with Johan Cruyff. His league performances were poor, but his job was saved by a UEFA Cup run that ended in glory and his first major trophy as a manager.

Moulding the basis of a very successful side, van Gaal's Ajax team would go on to win the Eredivisie championship three times between 1994 and 1996. Their greatest triumph came in the UEFA Champions League in 1995 after beating Milan in the final and they were runners-up the following season after losing to Juventus on penalties.

With players like Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids and Edwin van der Sar, his side were one of the best Europe has seen; although with his reputation growing, he left in 1997 to take over at Barcelona.

He led the Catalan side to two back-to-back La Liga titles, but clashed with the media again and when he left in 2000, uttered the immortal line: "Amigos de la prensa. Yo me voy. Felicidados." (Friends of the press. I am leaving. Congratulations.)

He returned to the Netherlands to manage the Dutch national team in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but failed to qualify for the tournament and was replaced by Dick Advocaat.

In 2002 he went back to Barcelona for a short spell, but left the job after half a year to be replaced by Radomir Antic; before eventually reappearing at Ajax as a technical director. He didn't last long. Internal conflict was cited as the reason for his departure and the fiery boss left the club in 2004. A year later he replaced Co Adriaanse as AZ manager and took the side to 3rd place in the Eredivisie in his first full season.

He complained that the 'top three' sides in Holland would never be broken up, and led AZ to a runners-up finish in the 2007 KNVB Cup, but then stated he would leave the club at the end of the 2007-08 season.

He was persuaded to stay and, in 2009, broke the established order by leading his side to a well-deserved Eredivisie title. Leading the division for the entire year, van Gaal established himself as one of Europe's elite and it wasn't long before he was attracting attention.

He agreed a deal with German giants Bayern Munich in May 2009, taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann and will look to win more silverware in another of Europe's top leagues.