In fact, many people had underestimated Van der Sar's historical standing in the Netherlands and even in European football.
This was actually quite normal. Whether the media or the fans, people focused too much on goals. Attacking players naturally attracted more attention, while defensive players—especially goalkeepers—were often easily overlooked.
As a result, their historical standing was greatly diminished.
But within professional circles, things were clearly not that way.
To understand Van der Sar's standing in the Netherlands and European football, one had to mention Cruyff.
The greatness of the godfather of Barcelona lay not only in Barcelona, but also in Dutch football.
During Cruyff's time coaching Ajax, he forged an entirely new concept of goalkeeping. He adopted a 3-4-3 formation and hoped that goalkeepers would no longer be limited to simply guarding the goal, but could better serve the team's total-football approach.
To achieve that, goalkeepers needed to read the game well, possess excellent vision, and pass and receive the ball with ease, becoming part of the team's attack and defense. The most revolutionary point was pushing the goalkeeper's position forward, outside the six-yard box.
The revolution was intended to better serve the team's overall tactics.
Former Ajax goalkeeper Stanley Menzo could be considered an early form of Cruyff's experiment. At the time, in order to help Menzo change more effectively, Cruyff had specifically invited Frans Hoek, whose ideas were close to his own, to train him.
The training produced good results with Menzo, and later achieved even greater success with the younger Van der Sar.
Van Gaal and Cruyff were bitter enemies, but some of their ideas came from the same lineage, including their requirements for goalkeepers. Frans Hoek continued to train Van der Sar according to Cruyff's goalkeeping philosophy.
In 1992, FIFA officially passed the back-pass rule. This