The David Moyes era was, thankfully, short-lived. Now, under Dutch mastermind Louis van Gaal, there is a renewed sense of swagger at Old Trafford and a growing expectation that Manchester United will be back where they belong this season – at the top of the Premier League.
What happened last season
So, er, yeah, David Moyes. That happened. That actually happened. Remember when people thought that, because Sir Alex Ferguson picked him out of all the managers in all of the world to be his successor, he might be able to take Manchester United to title number 21? That hope fell flatter than Steven Gerrard did that one time against Chelsea.
In all seriousness, last season was an absolute disaster for United. Moyes was frogmarched out of Old Trafford after just 10 months, having successfully turned the biggest club in the world into a laughing stock.
For the first time since 1990, they failed to qualify for a European competition, and they finished seventh overall in the Premier League – a staggering fall from grace, and not just because of where they ended up, but because of the embarrassing manner in which they got there.
What happened in the off-season
Louis van Gaal came in, that’s what happened, and the enigmatic Dutchman has quickly gotten to work in his mission to resurrect a giant of English football that, while perhaps isn’t quite fallen, is certainly reeling after a big, unexpected and unedifying smack to the gob.
United has had a good pre-season. Their tour of the United States and participation in the International Champions Cup was a roaring success in both footballing and commercial terms, even if van Gaal isn’t impressed with the way the club puts the latter over the former far too often.
They are undefeated in friendlies and take on Valencia at home in their final warm-up clash before the season proper begins, and the real hard work starts.
In terms of transfer traffic, there has been a lot of huffing and puffing but not an enormous amount of action. Left-back Luke Shaw and Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera were brought in from Southampton and Athletic Bilbao respectively for a total that nudges the £60 million mark, and while that’s a lot of dosh for two young players they both fill gaping needs in United’s squad.
But things are looking pretty thin at the back, and fans will be hoping van Gaal has more up his sleeve.
The Dutchman, if reports are to be believed, has already set about trimming the fat from his squad – he has apparently told Marouane Fellaini, Wilfried Zaha, Nani, Shinji Kagawa and Will Keane that they can go if offers come in for them.
Plenty of players have already gone, including Patrice Evra (Juventus), Nemanja Vidic (Inter) and Rio Ferdiand (QPR), who together made up three-quarters of United’s first-choice back four for what felt like forever.
Why Manchester United fans should be excited about the 2014/15 season
Because Louie VG knows what he’s doing. If you need any proof besides his glittering resume and general aura, then just cast your mind back a few weeks to the World Cup, when he put his balls on the line by sending Tim Krul into goals for the penalty shootout in the Netherlands’ quarter-final against Costa Rica.
That very easily could have gone horribly wrong.
And yet it didn’t. The mere making of that call pretty much spooked Costa Rica out. It’s that sort of uber-confident decision-making that Manchester United so desperately needs right now. David Moyes was simply not capable of managing the egos and expectation that comes with the job.
Comparatively, van Gaal is almost tailor-made for it.
From a tactical point of view there are few in world football wiser than him. With assistant Ryan Giggs by his side, he should know the lay of the land in Manchester. If he can get everyone behind him and keep them there, and the early suggestions are that he’s halfway there already, then United could be on the path back to the top before you know it.
The main man that can carry Manchester United’s 2014/15 hopes
Of the two big-name signings United has made, only one is expected to make an immediate and significant impact – Ander Herrera. And that’s no slight on Luke Shaw, who – if he backs up his hefty pricetag with by replicating the kind of performances that convinced the club to spend such an amount on him – can probably put a mortgage on the left-back position for the rest of his career.
But the 24-year-old Spaniard is exactly what Manchester United has been crying out for. Not just this season, but for several. In the out years of Ferguson’s dynasty, the calls for fresh creative blood in midfield only grew louder and louder. Herrera has settled quickly, laying on three assists in United’s 7-0 thrashing of LA Galaxy in pre-season.
His penchant for picking the right pass going forward and ability to dictate the tempo of a game, qualities he were lauded for in Spain, will be crucial – especially since last season in La Liga, he played in almost three times as many through-balls as any United player did.
Verdict – Title challenge
Surely. Surely! A club like Manchester United can’t have two shocking seasons in a row. With van Gaal at the helm it’s impossible it happening – barring some sort of unforeseen crisis he should have them in the mix with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in battling it out for the title.
They may not win it this time around – the other challengers are very strong, of course – but they’ll be in with a shot. More importantly, they’ll feel like the real Manchester United again.
Manchester United team to compete in 2014/15
Goalkeeper: (40) Ben Amos, (1) De Gea, (50) Sam Johnstone, (13) Anders Lindegaard.Defender: (6) Jonny Evans, (4) Phil Jones, (2) Rafael, (na) Luke Shaw, (12) Chris Smalling, (30) Guillermo Valera.
Midfield: (na) Ander Herrera, (na) Anderson, (16) Michael Carrick, (23) Tom Cleverley, (31) Marouane Fellanini, (24) Darren Fletcher, (44) Adnan Januzaj, (26) Shinji Kagawa, (35) Jesse Lingard, (8) Mata, (17) Nani, (32) Nick Powell, (25) Antonio Valencia, (18) Ashley Young.
Forwards: (21) Angelo Henriquez, (14) Javier Hernandez, (34) Tom Lawrence, (10) Wayne Rooney, (20) Robin van Persie, (19) Danny Welbeck, (29) Wilfried Zaha.
j binnie
Guest
AZ - Did you see the "subtle changes" made at half time last night????.United did appear to play better but lacked the finishing power that can ,and usually is,supplied by Van Persie and Robbens. Also to back up what the previous commenters said, the 2 Swansea goals were scored from inside the central penalty box,centre back "country". The problems of last year have not gone away. jb
j binnie
Guest
Az - Just shows you how much the "pundits" know does it not?????? We were not talking about pre-game gossip but rather the way the games were actually played.If you watched all the Dutch games you would be aware that Van Gaal did apparently make subtle changes to his his line up structure ,usually after half time,and there is little doubt that in most games they played a far more aggressive type of game in their second halfs usually scoring at will. It is now quite openly admitted he was trying to get the team to adopt a "new" system (for Holland that is) and this has carried over to the line-ups he has been trying with United ,some call it 3-5-2. My "pundits" simply pointed out that if they, "Holland" ,had played their "second half "football right through the tournament they could have won the trophy.That is their opinion and having seen every game I am not sure I don't agree with them,After all Argentine did not possess the attacking punch, Messi included, that the Dutch could have unleashed on Germany. Cheers jb PS We were discussing Manchester United AZ,what are your thoughts on the clearances Van Gaal appears to be making.??? Last season when I questioned the quality of United's squad I got ridicled,apparently Van Gaal may appear to agree with my views jb.
AZ_RBB
Guest
What did they say did contributed to them coming 3rd? At the start of WC I was struggling to find pundits tipping the Dutch getting out of the group stage. Almost none predicted them to reach the semis.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Thats very true jim. A 3-5-2 in the epl will be interesting to watch. This will become a 5-3-2 in some matches, I guess away against big teams, with shaw and valencia playing in defence. I actually think a lot will depend on how these 2 adapt to the system and I certainly hope they had a good prepas they are going to run a lot on their wings.
j binnie
Guest
Vince - With all your kudos handed out to Van Gall,the brickbats to Moyes and the understated references to the great SAF's tenure I am surprised that in your analysis you didn't refer to who has gone,or retired, from Old Trafford,who you rightly have named as being available to be sold ,and the rumours persisting as of yesterday that there are clubs interested in Wellbeck and Lindegaard. If one adds all these names together there has, or could be, almost 16 players set to leave 'the fold". In defence of Moyes he only signed 1 of those named, Felliani, so the other superfluous players are all there because of Ferguson's signing policies !!!!!!. Now there are two comments above that I heartedly agree with,if Van Gaal's 3 centre back plan is to work he is going to need 3 class centre backs and the three who played last year at different times are still there so it would not surprise if Van Gall moves in that area as well for all the goals conceded last season cannot be placed at the feet of Ferdinand or Vidic. It also might surprise but I have discussed Van Gaal's WC tactics with knowledgeable Dutch fans and there are many who reckon those tactics (which he appeared to change at half time in various games),actually went a long way to Holland not winning the trophy.Time will tell. Cheers jb
Football United
Guest
United will look better but if they don't buy another two centre backs and a world class box to box or tackle winning midfielder then they are going to look weak at the back.
Jim
Guest
I think there are huge questions around LVG tactic's in the Premier League - particularly playing 3-5-2 with the weak trio of centrebacks on their books. If they don't get some reinforcements in there, then I really think they will ship a lot of goals. I certainly do think they should be more free scoring this season however.