According to Indonesian media, the Indonesian Football Federation will travel to Europe in February to invite Dutch coach Louis van Gaal to coach the Indonesian national team.
Indonesian Football Association insiders said they too would meet Louis van Gaal when the federation plans to visit the Netherlands in February. Regarding the purpose of the meeting with Louis van Gaal, this person said that the president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tošil, would probably want him back to coach the Indonesian national team. It was Tošil who led his team to convince naturalized players to join the Indonesian national team, a testament to his lobbying prowess.
The Indonesian media said it would be difficult for 73-year-old Louis van Gaal to coach the national team directly, given his advanced age and recent serious illness. But the Indonesian Football Federation believes that even if Louis van Gaal does not accept the job, they can make him technical director of Indonesian football.
Whether Louis van Gaal is head coach of the Indonesian national team or technical director of Indonesian football, he is a huge threat to the national team. If Louis van Gaal were head coach of the Indonesian national team, the threat would go without saying that most of its naturalized players are from the Netherlands. So as a famous Dutch coach, Louis van Gaal naturally knows how to train this group of Dutch players, and for them to develop a suitable formation and personnel arrangements. When the national football team in the away game against Indonesia, want to get points, the difficulty will be increased.
Even if Louis van Gaal is only technical director of Indonesian football, he is still a big threat to the national team. Look at Fu Bo, our technical director of Chinese football, and look at someone else’s. The difference is huge. If Louis van Gaal were technical director of Indonesian football, he would surely recommend a famous coach from the Netherlands or Europe to the Indonesian national team. After all, with the current financial resources of the Indonesian Football Association, if only money could solve the problem, none of that matters. It’s a piece of cake to pay a world-famous handsome.
Against such a backdrop, the future of the current Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong Louis van Gaal, is in doubt. Even before the news about him came out, there were many media reports, the Indonesian Football Association is keen for European coaches to coach Indonesia to suit their European naturalised players.
Although the idea of the Indonesian Football Association to replace Shen tai-long is a bit of a waste of time, it is understandable. Although Shen has made a great contribution to the building of the national team in Indonesia since he took office in 2020, with the continuous progress of the naturalization of the players, the South Korean coach’s ability to match the growing strength of the“Dutch three teams”, has made more and more Indonesian media and fans doubt.
After all, the Indonesian team’s performance in the first six rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification Asian Top 18 was not satisfactory as a whole. If the draw against Bahrain on the road was influenced by the refereeing factors, but Shin Tae-yong’s loss to the national team at home and to the Japanese at home have brought his critics to an unprecedented level. In particular, to lose to the national football team such a direct opponent to compete for a place, but also let some Indonesian media and fans completely unacceptable.
It is worth noting that Shin Tae-yong also posted on his personal social media platform as he entered 2025, hoping to continue to gain the support of Indonesian fans and help the team advance to the FIFA World Cup finals. But Shin Tae-yong has received so little response that it is clear he is losing ground among the Indonesian media and fans.
According to the FIFA World Cup qualification of the last 18 Asian Games, Indonesia will face Australia and Bahrain in a row in late March. If they do not score points in either game, indonesia has the possibility of an early exit. Of course, if the Indonesian team had been out before the game against the national team, this is undoubtedly a major good news for the national team.
Now that Indonesia have made the top four in Group C their sole goal, choosing a new coach is a huge gamble. How the Indonesian Football Association will face this gamble also affects the hearts of our numerous Chinese fans. For this, Brother B will continue to pay attention!