Physical fitness getting more important, says Van Gaal(2)

Van Gaal returned as head coach of the Netherlands in 2012 and also adjusted his selection procedure to this new trend he perceived.

"My policy was in the first place that players must be fit," he explained. "And if they want to be fit, they have to play a lot. If they did not play much, they actually were not selectable for me.

"The second important principle is that they do not have my confidence. The form of the day matters. Ten years ago I was also Dutch coach and I had given my trust to them and those players betrayed that trust. And so I'm now selecting on the form of the day. Because I only borrow players from other coaches. I am not responsible for their fitness, because the time is too short.

"When players are with me, we always play matches and I cannot train hard on specific things. In other words: I have to look carefully to see players that fit the profile of the positions that we have created."

Van Gaal chose many players from the Dutch Eredivisie in the past year and the results were good, with a perfect start of eighteen points from six matches in World Cup qualification. However, this does not by definition mean that current Dutch football is of high quality, according to Van Gaal.

"It's about how many clubs play in the Champions League," he said. "We have not been represented this year in the Champions League, only in the group stage, by Ajax, who were eliminated.

"And in the Europa League Ajax and other Dutch clubs were ousted quickly as well. If you look at that you may think we are not a big football country anymore. But on the other hand it is also about the progress of the national team. We have won all the matches with the national team, scored most goals and conceded the least goals. We have the best goal difference in a rather difficult group with Romania, Turkey and Hungary."

Van Gaal thinks his key players are still playing abroad, with especially Arjen Robben, who won the treble with Bayern, and Van Persie, who became champions of England with Manchester United, finished the season on a high.

"Of course, we must also have that kind of players, otherwise we don't stand a chance. We just noted that the Dutch clubs were not present in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Champions League. It's good that we do have players who were, like Sneijder, Robben and Van Persie as greatest examples. Fortunately we still have them. That is important, because they can make the difference for us and have made the difference in the past."