Hristo Stoichkov was a star at Barcelona for many years. The Bulgarian won the Ballon d’Or at Camp Nou, but things went wrong after Louis van Gaal arrived. That still bothers him 25 years later.
Johan Cruyff brought the forward to Catalonia. After that, he worked well with Sir Bobby Robson. It seemed to be a purely positive era until Van Gaal came to Spain in 1997. The striker from the Dream Team clashed with the Dutchman, after which Van Gaal even confronted Mrs. Stoichkov. 'I have absolutely no respect for Van Gaal,' the former footballer once said.
Years later, it still bothers Stoichkov. In an interview with the Spanish, he refuses to say anything positive about Van Gaal. 'Louis? Louis who? I don't even want to say his name out loud. Nothing comes to mind when it comes to him.'
'He is a great professional,' the Bulgarian admitted. As a coach, there was no problem, Stoichkov indicated. 'No one will deny that. The training forms, playing in triangles, and coaching were good.'
But on a personal level, Van Gaal has hurt the Bulgarian's honor. 'As a person, I don’t like him. Maybe I'm a bad person myself, but I don’t want to talk about him. I don’t know anyone like him. I'm not good at everything either, but try to improve those aspects. I don’t want to be like him.'
'Let's talk about someone else, not him,' Stoichkov almost pleaded. It seems like it will never be alright between the two again. 'He is a nobody in my life. He is fake. A liar, whom I don’t want to waste another minute on. He is not worth it.'
Under Johan Cruyff, the forward won the European Cup I and four national titles. In 1994, he was chosen as the European Footballer of the Year. After Van Gaal's arrival, the Bulgarian clashed regularly with the coach. Therefore, he moved to CSKA Sofia.
