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Has Van Gaal brought progress, or is he just plain hopeless?

Louis van Gaal (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Roar Guru
6th November, 2014
13

Louis Van Gaal is polarising opinion right now. On one hand there is a feeling of hope among United fans that a corner has been turned and that their football is attacking.

On the other hand is the fact that despite investing so much in the team, he has four less points than Davie Moyes did last season and has even managed one less goal.

I have to admit that I have taken hugely to Van Gaal since he started. I had read of an obtuse, even rude master tactician; instead I have watched a refreshingly frank, honest and charismatic man whose team looks utterly chaotic.

Where Moyes fell down badly at United was in his approach and demeanour. He managed United like it was Everton, which nowadays it most certainly is not. This I suspect is why he fared relatively better in the Champions League, he had no Everton preconception to weigh against.

His body language both in press conferences and on the touchline was defensive; he encouraged both the press and teams through his tactics to attack United. It is not a coincidence that a plethora of teams then achieved their first victory at Old Trafford for what had been an age.

Both Sir Alex Ferguson and Van Gaal do the opposite, they are always on the front foot, they each intimidate and attack both at press conferences and on the pitch.

Now one could argue that had Moyes been furnished with Di Maria and Falcao he would have been on the front foot also. United dithered hopelessly in the transfer market the previous Summer and were punished.

What we don’t know is whether that was down to a rookie chief executive or to Moyes. Stories did emerge of a similar picture at Goodison Park however, of a manager that found it hard to pull the trigger in the transfer market.

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Another issue is that United appeared to be in reverse, steadily getting worse under Moyes whereas there does appear to be a method to Van Gaal’s madness and that United steadily improve.

He is known to be meticulous in his preparation and tactics and it takes time for players to understand him. He is generally a slow starter.

But is all of this glossing over the fact that United have spent 190M since January but are currently sitting 10th on the same points as West Brom?

Van Gaal’s pedigree is without question and with that comes authority and respect. The reality is however that most of his trophies were achieved some time ago with his peak (for me) coming in the mid 90s with his phenomenal Ajax team.

He has a reputation for exciting attacking football and was highly praised for Holland’s World Cup campaign. It should be remembered however that in the quarter and semi-finals his team played for four hours without scoring a goal, against Argentina failing to register a shot on target.

My own view is that Van Gaal will get it right and also that Moyes, although an architect of his own downfall should have been given another season.

United have three home games coming up against Palace, Hull and Stoke with a visit to the Emirates sandwiched in between. They then welcome the equally troubled Liverpool to Old Trafford after a visit to high flying Southampton.

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Van Gaal will be targeting all those home fixtures as wins but United badly need to address their away form (seven months without a win) before they can begin to believe that they are making progress.

The jury remains out on Van Gaal so far this season but United are at least, a lot more fun to watch this year both on and off the pitch.

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