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.
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.
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.
Woodo
Guest
No offense but it's pretty naive to think that. Happens quite alot actually and it can be responsible for a whole bunch of managerial exits, also just because the board promises them they'll have control doesn't mean they are given it. If you want an example of one that's playing out right now take a look at the situation with Marcelo Bielsa and Marseille. It was also one of the key reasons Villas Boas had such a dreadful time at Tottenham.
Christopher
Guest
there is no way that moyes did not have complete control over the transfer kitty. no manager would ever agree to join a professional club without that control.
j binnie
Guest
Fuss- Can't say with certainty but I think you will find there is a policy, albeit maybe unofficial, in the Netherlands re. national team managers.Since the team reached the World Cup final under the Austrian Ernst Happel in 1978, there have been no foreign coaches given charge of the team.That in itself is no strange occurrence when one remembers the reputation the country has for producing good coaches but what could be deemed strange is that in the ensuing 36 years there has been 17 different national team managers which means they are usually given a 2 year tenure on the job. and probably even stranger is the fact they have only featured in one World Cup Final ,2010,in those 36 years. Cheers jb..
Woodo
Guest
Was Moyes actually in charge of the transfers during his time at United? Pretty sure one of LVG's biggest stipulations when signing on was that he would be given greater control of the transfer kitty than his predecessor was given. Saw a fair bit of LVG when he was at Bayern; things started to fall apart for him there when it became obvious they were going to be beaten to the title by Borussia and he lost control of the dressing room. That's the problem with hardline authoritarian managers - if their plans don't work out then there's only so far the big egos are willing to be barked at into performing which is very much LVG's way of doing things. Whether he succeeds or not at Man U will be found out in the two months after Christmas i think.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Is Van Gaal just plain hopeless? Anyone who has followed football outside the small, insular island that lies off the west coast of continental Europe would chuckle at that question. From my observation & looking at his achievements, we can rate LvG as one of the best football coaches in the modern era of The Game. And, LvG's success with the Netherlands at WC2014 puts him amongst an elite group of football managers who have made the transition from "club to country" - unlike the majority of those who may have glowing coaching records at club level.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Rick I made the point in a previous article that as you say, Ferguson indeed focused very much on attacking. I always felt he was slightly one dimensional tactically in that he didn't really know how to do anything else. For instance when he tried to integrate Veron (who at the time was a SUPREME deep lying playmaker) and adapt United from a 4-4-2 in Europe, he simply couldn't do it. However, what Ferguson did do I feel was recognise that United were very open and responded by consistently signing top class defenders breaking the record in the process for Pallister, Stam and Ferdinand as well as signing guys like Vidic and having Gary Neville to call upon. They also had Roy Keane in front of them. The key as you said straight up is balance. Cheers for reading the piece.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
United for me have always been one of the most balanced teams (well under Fergie anyway), not only in the EPL, but in Europe. The problem last year - and to some extent this year - is not necessarily their defence like many people are pointing out, but their offence. If you look back at Fergie's era (which isn't that long ego), we can see that indeed it isn't so much defence that wins you titles, but offence. ManU are at their best when their defence is conceding around 30-40 goals a year with the offence scoring around 75-85 goals a year. Last year their defence was reasonably sound, compared to the rest of the league, but their offence was not up to it. I see the same thing this year, and although I do concede their defence is an issue, it's their offence that is the main problem. ManU need to sort their midfield striking power out for they have always had a good mix of forward and midfield striking ability, along with good sound defence. To me they have always been near identical in structure to Bayern Munich for the past 20 years and the Bayern team from the past few years is probably the most balanced in Europe, which can be seen very much so in the German national team - near perfection and beautiful football to watch. That's the United I want back, even if it doesn't mean the Championship this year, but the current level of football is just not pretty to watch on so many levels.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Johnno that's an interesting point you make given I also pointed out that the bulk of his success came in the 90s. You could take a manager such as George Graham who enjoyed wonderful success with Arsenal and was clearly a good manager. Yet after his 'bungs' rehabilitation he increasingly became less relevant at both Leeds and Spurs, his football just seemed archaic. I'm not so sure you can place LVG in that category yet as he was lauded at the World Cup for his tactics, especially the demolition of (a woeful) Spain. But again, is this more about his relationship with the press (ala Harry Redknapp) than a reality of his tactical nous? Definitely worth thinking about mate. Cheers for reading.
Johnno
Guest
The game's past Van Gaal, like Hiddink and Capello, there style is 10 years ago, the game's moved on.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Aladdin, I probably should have tipped more of a nod to the injury situation which is undoubtedly a problem. I think my issue with United's defence is I look along the line at Rafael, Jones, Smalling, Evans, Rojo and I'm just not convinced by any of them at the HIGHEST level. I do think Luke Shaw will progress. Smalling for me is not United standard and I don't know with Phil Jones, he looks a wonderful prospect but at some stage he has to stop getting injured and tie down a position and then we will see. I actually think their make shift defence with ten men functioned very well at the weekend but with Rojo and Smalling on the pitch, both could easily have been sent off as well as a couple of penalties before we even got to the second half. I think a lack of tactical cohesion ahead of that defence is pressuring these guys immensely also. Cheers for reading the piece Aladdin.
Steven McBain
Roar Guru
Cheers JB and thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and complete comment. I actually felt a bit unhappy with my article as I didn't really reach my own conclusion but that's maybe as it's just too early too call. I really have to say I've taken to Van Gaal on a personal level but I'm still waiting to see the tactical master at work!
aladdin sane
Guest
Another thing to consider this year when rating LVGs 'performance' so to speak, is that Utd have also been decimated by injury - particularly their problematic defense - all year, ranging from 7-11 squad members out all season. When you couple this with the fact that they also lost three very experienced defenders last season (who, for various reasons, have not yet been adequately replaced) it also goes a long way to help explain Utd's shambolic defending. Smalling and Jones have probably not reached the heights many pundits suggested they might has also not helped the cause. Still think they are on the right track with LVG.
j binnie
Guest
Steven - an extremely well put discussion that looks at the big picture of United over the last 24 months,from Championship wins to,for the fans,almost suicidal thoughts.You attempt to put questions and attempt to give reasoned discussion on those questions but you are going to attract a virtual plethora of differing opinions as to what has gone wrong at the club. If we go back in time we find a man,Matt Busby, who taking the club over post WW2 built the foundations for a super power in World football and then,due to extreme bad health brought on by the Munich air crash some 12 years later began his search for a successor and we all know that a range of managers were tried and found wanting until Ferguson was lured to the ground where,with Busby's backing on the board,he was given time, around four seasons,to get the Reds back to former glory.Busby had served around 25 years as supremo and Ferguson was to do the same so covering around 50 or so years out of 70 with only 2 managers. Times have changed &so have the expectations from a growing legion of "fans " spread across ,not Manchester ,but the world. That brings us up to date when United appear to have entered another phase of sorting out their managerial requirements,firstly with Moyes and now Van Gaal, two very experienced managers in their own right but coming from different backgrounds. Again we have to visit the Busby replacement years and find 6 different men used, 3 as stop-gap with only another 3,Docherty 5 years.Sexton 4 years and Atkinson 5 years winning trophies albeit "minor" ones like Charity Shields etc. So are we actually re-visiting an area that sees United ,a world power,struggle to get back to another 25 successful year reign for someoneor like Busby or Feguson???. That is a question with a double entendre. (1) Is it possible ,or (2) Have those days gone forever. I'll leave it there Steven,for opinions run high among bloggers as to what is happening at United though the similarities as to what happened in that pre-Ferguson era are almost too close to where we are at today. jb.