22 Apr 2015 04:25:09
It feels like it's been only a month that we got beat by swansea at our first match of the season, We now only have 5 games left. How fast does time travel.
LVG as a stupid, made announcement that it would take 3 months for players to understand his philosophy and we will see the result then . We lost first match against Swansea which was really a big pain to us considering how good we were in pre-season .Honestly i expected to hammer them. He watched all the players carefully and then the work started at old trafford . Several of our players left and several were signed too . He did a great job on getting rid of deadwoods which was the one i was happy about (expect welbz one ) and indeed signed good players we were crying for .
Next . We played the first 4 games as if our players were alien to each other and our defence was becoming more fragile . Especially, after the horrendous leicester show, We saw little tweaks in the system because this team was letting too many chances in . Those tweaks originated the defence and we were a bit better in defending field but then again our attacking became poor. We did not concede much goals but were not scoring too. Concentrating on both attacking and defending areas and creating balance between them proved a difficult task for LVG but yet he did it. It did took much longer than he expected but it is better late then never .Until then, Man Utd were a regular topic for abuse by media and pundits but thank god LVG was arrogant and handled the media pretty well. And now we are finally seeing good football from our players because LVG has instilled belief in all those players and every players know well about their role . Valencia knows where mata and herrera will be and where he should run when herrera has the ball . He even knows where herrera shall pass the ball after he receives ball from mata which was passed to mata by himself . Similar goes to blind, young and fellaini . Smalling has improved tremendously and if he can play at the same level without injury along with a top CB, he will certainly be called a top class CB . Rooney is playing great at top and we can expect goals everytime he plays .Further our team has started to dominate every game, passing has been crisper leading to attack and goals are coming. Last year it really gave me scare whenever we face a big team but this year we were the one they should fear.
So I don't know what people understand from this but what i meant to say was that we finally have our man. No matter if there is pep, klopp or ancelotti availaible, if we have our man then why should we look at another . For me he has done a great job until now and deserves to be given all three years of his contracts and i think we will have a good run on CL as well.He did return our old team and did it step wise step as a good manager would do and i am sure there will be more improvements and good results will follow .
GGMU
22 Apr 2015 08:14:06
Good summation Srestha. My only point of debate would be that he hasn't done a great job so far as far as I'm concerned. He has done ok with all things considered.
I do agree that things seem a lot brighter now, despite not creating anything of substance last week. I am confident the fear factor is finally returning and with some better signings and quicker integration we should be back where we belong next season.
Big problem for me will be how we handle Europe and the League, as LVG will need to integrate new players and won't have enough time on the training ground. He obviously doesn't like to coach as the game is being played, so I'm not totally confident he is the right man yet, there is a lot more for him to prove for me.
22 Apr 2015 08:46:34
Good post Srestha.
Beast, not sure it can be a 'big problem' when we're not even in Europe yet and haven't given the manager a chance on that stage. You love to see the worst in him but its pure speculation as usual.
22 Apr 2015 08:56:43
May be LVG still has some work to do Beast ! Hopefully that will erase your doubt . This summer is going to be his second and now he clearly knows which area he needs to strengthen and I think we will have very good transfer window with quality of players coming in .
And i don't see a problem with LVG handling Europe and the League . He is no alien for all those stuff and has been doing such things for long duration . He will definitely buy some top class players and this time it won't take long for the new players to gel because the philosophy already has the grip all over the team . I do feel that he is the right man and and we must just wait and see how we develop over the time
22 Apr 2015 08:58:00
p.s Beast ! I think he will have enough time to gel new recruits with the team as in my opinion all transfers will be sorted out pretty soon
22 Apr 2015 09:17:22
Hopefully you are both right.
HoneyBadger - I am basing it on how slow the current crop of players were to learn his methods, also the fact that we will have more games to play, (both facts). So new players will need time to learn and will arguably have less one-on-one time to learn. Hence my concerns that we could see a lot of the same tinkering and square pegging if he doesn't prepare properly.
No World Cup will help of course and he will also have a lot of the players helping him next season as they know what he expects. It is a legitimate concern but one which he should overcome.
22 Apr 2015 09:58:19
Beast,
Surely that can also be turned the other way round, is having more games not a positive if the players are learning? Earlier this season you said not having Europe was an issue because there a less games to get to know each other, now having Europe is going to be an issue, make your mind up!
22 Apr 2015 09:27:52
Beast,
You aren't confident in van Gaal because of something he has had no chance to prove yet and has coped well with at others clubs? Well I never!
22 Apr 2015 09:35:39
Beast ! This season all the players were to learn his methods but next season only few will be there . Since Players also know his philosophy , new recruits will be helped by the current crop of players to so i don't see a reason to panic so take a breath Beast. Just Chill :)
22 Apr 2015 09:36:42
I think your summary is pretty decent although like Beast I cannot just forget the entire first half of the season so I will have my reservations going into the next one but I am a willing fan and I live in hope that LVG has done his homework and we will be back to our brilliant best and challenging on all fronts this time next year.
In regards to the possibility of a new manager coming in then yes I would be in favour of change only if that manager is and was the man we both earmarked before and after the LVG regime. If that man is available now then surely, in my opinion, it would be worth cashing in on our chips. It's like your going to buy a new car and you've got the one you want in mind but then when you get to the show room that one is unavailable so you test drive something else and it was pleasant. You then go back next week to buy that car but are told the one you really wanted is now available. Go figure.
22 Apr 2015 09:44:00
And who is to say his style of football would not be more suited to European competition?
I'd say his style would be.
22 Apr 2015 10:00:03
I understand your concern beast and as you say hopefully we can overcome them. Any new player may need to adapt but the current squad now knows what LvG expects from them and a full pre season should help towards integrating the newbies ready for the season.
22 Apr 2015 09:27:52
Beast,
You aren't confident in van Gaal because of something he has had no chance to prove yet and has coped well with at others clubs? Well I never!
22 Apr 2015 09:35:39
Beast ! This season all the players were to learn his methods but next season only few will be there . Since Players also know his philosophy , new recruits will be helped by the current crop of players to so i don't see a reason to panic so take a breath Beast. Just Chill :)
22 Apr 2015 09:44:00
And who is to say his style of football would not be more suited to European competition?
I'd say his style would be.
22 Apr 2015 12:17:24
JMB !
To reply to your post in your own language . What if the car which u picked to buy due to first choice being unavailable is pretty decent and is giving you very good result of your investment ? It has not fulfilled all your expectation but yet is giving the most things you want ?? Also it is possible that the first choice car you have may not succeed under the different climate of england as your second choice has succeeded. Go figure
22 Apr 2015 13:17:40
Srestha sorry I do not really understand what you are trying to say with your metaphor.
22 Apr 2015 13:26:07
Stretha, I think this is a very good and balanced post.
Beast, so getting us into a fight for 2nd place and playing good football and dominating possession stats in every game is not good enough? Coupled with that, 50 odd injuries in the first 3 months of the season. Couple with LVG coming into a totally new league and 6 new players been signed, 5 of whom are from abroad.
And you wanted him to do WHAT EXACTLY? What could he have improved on? Have you any idea how difficult it is for people to settle in new jobs, new countries, new culture?
You wanted them all to come in and start winning the title??!!
Did Fergie not take 3 years to settle?
We had a team that was unbalanced and still is now, this still needs to be addressed this summer, it really makes no sense at all to be critisizing the manager when you know deep down that he has done an extremely good job.
22 Apr 2015 13:53:11
JMB ! My bad mate !
Let's try it this way .
If the car you just test drove was pleasant(say car LVG) then why would you choose the first one (the one you had on your mind,say car Pep) . It is possible that the car Pep may not be pleasant as LVG,, and it is also possible that Pep car may not run smoothly on the roads of your hometown . If car LVG is pleasant to drive and is working smoothly on you hometown then it is better to stay with it rather than taking risk on Pep
22 Apr 2015 13:55:13
Nomidfield !
Exactly mate. I am trying to explain same thing . It took time for LVG to settle and it is of no surprise. I don't think anyone can come and instantly make us title contenders. At least he is giving us good games now so why to scratch old wound and bring up old games? We should just stick with LVG and see how more we develop
22 Apr 2015 15:03:31
how anyone can say we should change manager is beyond me.
22 Apr 2015 15:15:44
Same here, spb.
I think the manager will be here for more than three years.
22 Apr 2015 15:34:28
What you say makes sense to me Srestha, don't worry!
1. There is no guarantee that a manager who was first pick over LvG at the time would do any better.
2. Bringing in a new manager will bring about yet more upheval.
3. LvG was given the job, is going well and has us going in the right direction, why risk changing Tha when there are no guarantees?
All seems pretty straight forward to me.
22 Apr 2015 16:05:32
Before we start celebrating this seasons achievement, we have a tricky fixtures at Everton this weekend and couple of tricky fixtures away at Palace and Hull. I would feel a lot better if we beat Everton this weekend.
We have not performed well every time Carrick has been out as Rooney in midfield for me is pointless.
Looks like carrick will also miss the Everton game.
22 Apr 2015 16:42:28
I think LVG has done a very good job, we can sit here and talk about the first half of the season all we want, criticise his selection whatever you want. But one thing is for sure, everything takes time, LVG obviously has a long term plan that he is trying to implement, Iregardless of how much money he spent or the players he already had at his disposal it takes time to get them to play the way he wants. And at that it has only taken him half a season, it took Fergie years and he repaid our faith with bucket loads of trophies. Nobody on this site is privy to how LVG runs the team but all you have to do is look at his record, it speaks for itself.
Nobody is sure how long LVG is going to stick around but he has us dominating games, creating chances, players finally gelling and genuine optimism that helped most of us to forget last seasons capitulation.
I think we are in for one hell of a season next year, and we will do well in Europe because the way we set up now is tailor made, add in a couple of signings that are needed and we will end up with at least one trophy next year
22 Apr 2015 17:16:01
JMB you know exactly what Srestha was saying with that reply! Just acting like you don't because you realised it made your post seem a bit daft.
But yeah, given the chance we should definitely change manager because I think our club thrives on change, David Moyes agrees with me.
22 Apr 2015 19:14:13
Let me quote a great man named Sir Alex Ferguson on this issue. "Sometimes you look at a cow in another field and think that its better than the one that you already have. But it doesn't quite work out that way."
22 Apr 2015 20:46:00
Ozwald I didn't actually think what Srestha said made a lot of sense but I would still maintain my postion on the manager. If he stays great, if the better option for all parties is available then great. I'm a not naive enough to the fact that the game changes every five minutes and loyalty is thing of the past. No need to get snappy mate.