11 May 2015 06:48:55
So we will finish 4th now. I don't really see Arsenal or city slipping up and letting us into third place so this would be a fair time to look back at the season and how the manager and players have done.

I think the truth lies somewhere in between what two opposite sides of the debate are saying. Van Gaal hasn't been bad or terrible or a disaster as Beast would like to have us believe, neither has he had a good/great season as some overtly optimistic people on here would like to have us believe. I think he has been average overall, and if you prefer to look at it in terms what the bare minimum was expected, he has been decent. He has certainly bought himself one more season.

So here is my assessment of Van Gaal :-

The positives :-

1. Was ruthless in the summer in terms of shipping players out :-

Absolutely no mercy was shown here. Most of the players which left should have gone a year or two ago I think. Well and truly set the reset button and didn't dither.

2. Performances in the games against the top 6.

This is where the biggest improvement has been. Van Gaal's experience and stature really did come through in these games. The tactics were spot on in most of these games and we are where we are because of these performances, without them, we were looking at 7th place again I think. I don't remember the last time we went to Stamford Bridge and controlled the game to that extent. The results against Liverpool are pretty much the difference between them and us right now. And Van Gaal handled the difficult run of fixtures really well and got the team up for it.

2. Improvement of some non performers from last season :-

Young - Looks a totally different player, and is in great form. Van Gaal seems to have turned him around.

Fellaini - Has been used in his right position and been allowed to play his natural game (even though its not pretty and United like) and has been very effective.

Smalling - A few niggling injuries aside has been solid and one of the most improved players.

3. Handled the media well

The previous manager was poor at this and Van Gaal has pretty much bossed the press this year. Those who follow our press conferences must have seen that there have been some really loaded questions directed at him this season and he has answered them with great humor. He also attacks the journalists when necessary. A couple of statements have been a bit too honest and may have hurt a few players but that comes with the territory. Van Gaal is an incredibly frank and confident speaker.

I liked how he publicly backed the players after the game against Chelsea. He is known to come out and support his players if they have played exactly the way he asked them to and have lost. Certainly brought the feel of having a big club manager back.

4. Recruitment for next season :-

From what the Editor has told us and the noises coming out of the club its clear that we have a well thought out plan for the summer. The targets are the right ones in my view and we look destined to do most of our business early. A proper recruitment strategy has been missing for a few years now.

5. Possession :-

Although at the cost of the cutting edge up front we keep the ball much better now even against the better sides. This was a huge problem towards Sir Alex's latter years and indeed last season. This will help us in Europe next year.

The negatives :-

1. The philosophy and style of play

I cannot figure out what his philosophy is. If it is slow possession based football, it won't get us anywhere. We need to create far more chances and play with a much higher tempo and still keep the ball. The players seem to be scared of losing possession and take the safe option. We rarely shoot from outside the box.

The 3 at the back system was an absolute disaster and has cost us double digit points I think.

2. Summer transfers have not been as good as expected :-

Blind is a decent backup at left back but a poor CM, a nothing player when played there and neither offers tough tackling and defensive shielding nor does he control the game from that position.

Di Maria is a quality player. You don't survive at Real Madrid for as long as he did without being a top performer. His assists record speaks for itself. He came and looked top class. I remember the game against Burnley and he was the best player on the pitch by a countrymile. He followed that up with top performances and then we changed the formation back to 3 at the back.
He is a creative player and dribbler yet if Van Gaal wanted to play the 3 at the back I don't see why he bought him. Playing him as a striker has shot him of all the confidence and he now looks a shadow of his former self.

Falcao has failed.
Won't comment on Shaw, unlucky due to injuries.
Herrera has been our best signing.
Rojo before his injury was our best center back I think.

3. Lack of game management :-

We play with the same tempo and tactics throughout the game and the only change that happens is at half time. Van Gaal needs to manage the game much more.

Also, throughout the season, our second half performances as a whole haven't been good enough for me. Where Sir Alex's teams played their best football in the last 10 minutes and bossed the second half, Van Gaal's teams don't seem to do that.

4. Bizarre results against some average sides :-

Swansea defeats, the Leicester freak show, and some really poor showings against bottom of the table sides have been disappointing to watch. These are the sides which park the bus and we had no plan to break them down. Van Gaal has done well against the top half teams who try to attack us, but the performance against the bottom sides needs to improve.

We went into the run of difficult fixtures not at all confident and came out extremely surprised that we had completely outplayed the top sides. That sums up our season for me. Two sides to it.

Looking forward to next season :-

1. We need to get through the qualifiers of the UCL. No excuse there.

2. Anything but a strong title challenge, would be a failure, especially considering the investment.

3. At least make the knockout stages (I expect quarter finals at least) in the UCL.

4. Play a much quicker tempo and create more chances.

5. Would be really happy if Van Gaal is ruthless and let's go of RVP. As good as he was in his first season, he needs to be let go now. I am also not sure what Mata offers us if we are going to play a 4-3-3. He has no pace to play out wide. Would be interesting to see what Van Gaal does there.

6. Van Gaal's strikers have let him down this season I think. In some games we created more than enough chances to win. A top striker would make a huge difference next season.

I'm quietly optimistic about next season. Would love to read everyone and the Ed's thoughts on this.


1.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 08:24:16
Excellent post imo


2.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 08:36:46
An excellent post. Agree with everything you say. The 1-0 defeats against southampton, chelsea and wba were all depressingly the same, loads of possession but very few chances created. Shows the importance of playing players with that X factor such as ADM and in the future Depay, players that do what Hazard does and that CR7 used to do for us. When faced with a brick wall defence you have to try and slice it open with pace and skill and not try and bludgeon it open.


3.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 09:39:51
Good post Red Faith. Very balanced and I agree with a lot of what you say.

For me average isn't good enough. The fact Depay has been signed tells me he is staying for next season so we are stuck with him even if I don't like it. I just hope he doesn't spend all of pre-season attempting to perfect one very fallible system 4-3-3. We need to be able to adjust our style and formation to deal with different types of opponents. We are not good enough to have one set style that will defeat all comers (Barcelona of old).

If there is one wish I could have (aside from him getting the boot), it would be for him to show more willingness to change things that clearly aren't working both during games and from game to game, this season has been one of sheer frustration for me. So many opportunities, such poor opposition and yet we have played the most consistently dull style of football I have ever witnessed especially with such a talented group of players.

No excuses next season, we can lose but we should always play to win and attack teams at pace. Our strikers have been hung out to dry this season.


4.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 09:42:19
REDFAITH,

Great post mate, well thought out points and I would struggle to disagree with most of it. Beast would have you believe that some people on here think LVG has done an amazing job but really most people are satisfied with a sense of 'job done, but could have been a lot better'.

I would say the majority of people are in this boat and it is quite easy to see why. The minimum target this season was to get top 4, but with the signings at the beginning of the season many people would have expected a title challenge. This was based on the signings of two players who at the top of their game are world beaters, but unfortunately Falcao and ADM have failed to convince in their first season, meaning some of the players who had been written off had to come to the fore, work hard and drag us into that 4th spot.

I don't think in this day and age when Chelsea and City are spending top money on players who can change games that players like Young, Fellaini and at a push Mata are going to win you the league unless they have world class players who are playing at their best around them, so 4th is probably the best we could hope for, there is just a disappointment because imagine if Falcao had scored 30 goals this season and ADM had played like the player we thought we signed, I think we would still be in the title race at this stage.

So there is a sense of disappointment that it is only 4th, but satisfaction that 4th spot will allow us to get the players we need to push on and challenge on all fronts again next season.


5.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 10:27:56
GDS2, even with the signings I expected to finish 3rd mate. A comfortable third, just below the title contenders but above the "rat race" for 4th. A bit like Chelsea last season.

Its the approach and tactics that worry me more than the results. Had we created some good chances, played the right way and not gotten the results I would have been far more comfortable than I am now. In most of the games that we drew or lost, we created nothing of note, no genuine goalscoring opportunities that I can remember. That is what is most worrying.

But the results against the top 6 still give me a lot of hope.


6.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 10:53:33
we have underperformed imo for a number of reasons.
i think we have a good squad but we haven't seen the best of it .
my biggest gripe is i haven't seen much improvement from the start of the season .
infact the last month has been very poor .
we spent 150 mil in the summer, has our football really improved that much ?
do we look like we are ready to push chelsea for the title or even arsenal, are we ready for barcelona and co.

our tactics have been poor at times this season and have cost us points.

people seem to think next season we will suddenly be great , everything will click. blind faith?

lvg has done well he has managed to finish above the scouse , who have been shocking .

united will spend money this summer but so will chelsea ,arsenal and city madrid etc will all improve.

i said from the start i think lvg is past it , he was a top manager a while ago but i would rate him only in the decent bracket now, football has moved on from the way he plays the game.
which a lot of the lvg fans on here don't like to hear.
i honestly don't believe he has a title in him.


7.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 11:16:14
REDFAITH,

I think that is true for some of the defeats earlier in the season, we were not creating chances and it was worrying losing games like that. The defeat to Everton aside, which was just a weird game in my opinion and never a 3-0 on paper, the West Brom and Chelsea games we created enough chances to win them games. The West Brom game especially was just 'one of them games', we missed a penalty and a hat full of chances against a side who were time wasting after 10 minutes to take a 0-0, extremely frustrating but different to some of the earlier defeats where we looked devoid of ideas.

The results against the top 6 give me hope too mate, we have shown that in them games we can play a certain way that causes them problems. I saw a post yesterday saying we hadn't improved from last season but that is ridiculous, last season I watched us lose 3-0 at home to both of our biggest rivals, this season I saw us win 3-0 and 4-2, so from 0-6 to 7-2, the improvement is there for all to see.

Beast,

LVG is definitely here to stay, so can you at least try and back him for a bit?


8.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 11:32:02
GDS2 - A new season a fresh start. I'm not one to hold a grudge, but if I witness the same type of football and inept management then I won't be able to help myself.

I will certainly climb off his back now as nothing will change until game 1 of next season.


9.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 12:05:13
That's what I was getting at mate, let's just see how we get on over the summer. As much as I banter back with you and disagree a lot I do understand where you come from a lot of the time I just think you have a tendency to overreact and try and blame LVG for everything that happens, but hey, none of us are perfect!

At the end of the day we all want fast paced attacking football and trophies, that is the ideal for everybody here, some of us are just willing to wait a little longer than others to see it happen and realise Rome wasn't built in a day.

I can't wait until the Champions League qualified at Old Trafford, it feels like we have been out of it for 10 years not just 12 months!


10.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 12:35:54
Nice on GDS2. I suppose the key difference is those with patience think he is building Rome and appreciate it takes time.

I personally think he is building a Favela with the resources to actually build Rome in a few days.

Time will tell, but I struggle to see how it can get any worse, so at least next season should be a bit more enjoyable for us all. Roll on the summer.


11.) 11 May 2015
11 May 2015 18:10:02
For me, I think the manager has done a good job. Yes, there are things he could have done better, but in the main - considering where we were last season - plus the ridiculous amount of injuries we have had this season - I think he has improved us all round. Also, the spirit and fight this team has now is a far cry from the lack luster performances we witnessed last season.

I think the possession game will work so much better when we have forwards with pace and who are direct. Hence why I believe Depay will be a breath of fresh air next season.

All in all, I am happy with how we are progressing, and believe we will be much stronger next season.