The success of Germany and the Netherlands in the World Cup knock-out rounds has posed a problem for Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal, a Dutchman.

Seven members of Germany’s national football team play for Bayern, as do two members of the Dutch squad, making Bayern the best represented club among the four World Cup semi-finalists.

“I regret it,” Van Gaal wrote on his homepage on Sunday, referring to the teams’ success, “because I can’t make good preparations.”

The seven players — Germans Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller, Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Mario Gomez and Hans Joerg Butt, and Dutchmen Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel - will not be able to start training with Bayern until August 2, after their post-World Cup holiday.

This means about half of Bayern’s players, who last season achieved a German league and cup double and made it to the Champions League final, will have trained for only two-and-a-half weeks with the team when the Bundesliga season gets under way on August 20.

“That’s not good,” Van Gaal said. “It’s a big problem.”