Former Barcelona player Edgar Davids has joined former Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal at the Dutch national team.
The bullish midfielder didn’t play for van Gaal in either of his two stints at Barcelona, but did feature for him at both Ajax and in the national side. Now Davids will be working alongside van Gaal as part of his coaching staff ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
The KNVB (Dutch Football Federation) confirmed the news on their website, with Sport picking up the story. He replaces Henk Fraser, who is leaving for Utrecht.
Davids only played on loan at Barcelona for six months under Frank Rijkaard in 2004, but made a large impact. During Joan Laporta’s first era, Davids helped propel Barcelona back into contention for titles and even made the cover of the FIFA game thereafter.
His coaching career has been less impressive. Starting as a player manager at Barnet, Davids was sacked in 2014 after and didn’t return to management for 7 years. In 2020, he was back in work as an assistant at Telstar in the Netherlands, before taking over Olhanense in Portugal for six months. After another sacking last summer, Davids will try to add some of his steely character to the Dutch team.
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