Louis van Gaal | Manchester United manager

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Ah yes. it's the age old debate of if you continue with finding a way to make plan A work or switch to a plan B, whatever that means (fundamentalism v pragmatism).

I remember watching a U-21 world cup final where Spain were playing their usual patient, tiki taka game and not really having any breakthrough with it. It was reaching the final minutes and you wondered if they were going to switch it up because it really seemed like they needed to. Yet they stuck to their plan and eventually grabbed the winner in the dying seconds. That's an example choosing to stick with Plan A even though it doesnt seem to be working. But you can find examples where Plan B works too. My point is sometimes, even when you want to change Plan A, you may be better off sticking with it and making slight adjustment rather than trying to switch to Plan B which may or may not work. I feel like the gamble is 50/50 but I could be wrong with that.

All of this depends on what the opposition do and where their weaknesses lie as time passes. For example, in Spain's first match against Italy in Euro 2012, we saw del Bosque tweak his team just after Fabregas scored. They brought in Jesus Navas for David Silva, and this change made it more likely for Spain to score goals. Navas provided width to Spain, and he started to create gaps in the middle along with push back Maggio. This is where a change in the setup was positive and was influenced by how Italy were set up. Essentially, though, their main tiki-taka system was maintained though played at a faster pace and with more width.

In relation to van Gaal, his system will always be maintained. However, he will tweak it, the formation, and the personnel according to the opposition.
 
Could the 3-5-2 work at United?
It would allow Mata - Rooney - Van Persie fit together like Sneidjer - Robben - Van Persie yesterday. Rafael and Shaw/Evra would be covered by the three centre back's so they could concentrate on attacking. I think it could work.


Big fan of back three's and I can't think of a better way to get Rooney, Mata and Van Persie into their best positions. I think this is a better fit for our players than the diamond.

Mata in particular would be fantastic I that formation I feel, with the front two playing off him. Shaw and Rafael are excellent wing backs for that system as well, both good enough defensively but with the physicality and stamina to get up and down the line all game.
 
Big fan of back three's and I can't think of a better way to get Rooney, Mata and Van Persie into their best positions. I think this is a better fit for our players than the diamond.

Mata in particular would be fantastic I that formation I feel, with the front two playing off him. Shaw and Rafael are excellent wing backs for that system as well, both good enough defensively but with the physicality and stamina to get up and down the line all game.
Big fan of back three's and I can't think of a better way to get Rooney, Mata and Van Persie into their best positions. I think this is a better fit for our players than the diamond.

Mata in particular would be fantastic I that formation I feel, with the front two playing off him. Shaw and Rafael are excellent wing backs for that system as well, both good enough defensively but with the physicality and stamina to get up and down the line all game.

Where is Robben's pace in a trio of RVP, Mata and Rooney? Replace Rooney with Robben's and we would be in business.
 
This is a key quote to me:

"We also have to play Chile. I said before we could beat Spain because they always want to attack. Spain always want to dominate.
I wanted that also for 20 years. But you can't always attack. You must look at the players you have."

I was worried that we would become unstuck at times because we wouldn't deviate from playing a possession based game, and there might be teams better at it than us, but the fact that he realises you can't play that way all of the time is reassuring.

I won't get too carried away from this one result but I was excited about him anyway. I doubt we will see 3 at the back very often at United. Holland wouldn't be playing that way atm if Strootman was fit so it's definitely not his preferred formation and not one I can see him going with here apart from in certain situations.
 
Where is Robben's pace in a trio of RVP, Mata and Rooney? Replace Rooney with Robben's and we would be in business.

Well Rooney would have the second striker role. Not too sure on the question though - lots of team have played a back three without a Robben type of forward. I agree he would be great though.

I don't see a problem with Rooney and Van Persie ahead of Mata. And I can't think of a better way to get them all on the pitch, in their best positions.
 
We could play a 4-3-3 as well.

Rooney, RVP and Januzaj as the front 3 with a midfield 3 of Carrick, new signing and Mata. Perhaps a bit too attacking but what the hell
 


This is without any signings, looks good anyway on paper. RVP and Rooney don't have to start together.
 
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What.. We're talking about the 3-5-2 right? No one is on the left.
Ahh sorry, i was talking about a 4-3-3 in another thread. Got mixed up. Yeah Rooney would work there but we would just lack a bit of pace up front.
 
Ha! if he manages the English NT, I might start counting cards just to occupy myself!

I know what you mean. The slurs stick. That's what annoys me. Sometimes, a player just isn't suited for the EPL. It doesn't necessarily mean the player is poor. I think of Sahin as an example and since Brits I know dont rate Bundesliga because of Bayer's hegemony they rate player like Sahin in lower esteem just because he didn't prove himself at Liverpool. I just dont like the idea EPL is measuring stick for foreign players. EPL has its qualities which make it stand out from other leagues, but that doesn't necessarily make it best league in the world (entirely different discussion) and if you dont do well here, you're shit. Not always the case.

It is always completely retarded and logically makes no sense. The media keeps repeating it until it becomes a truth and suddenly it is a stamp the player/team/manager has forever. United were doing bad because our players were poor, something media kept saying until it was on everybodies lips. DDG is shaky and United are looking for goalkeepers to replace him etc.

I am sure LVG won't be bothered, but the board may be a lot easier to move with media pressure.
 
It is always completely retarded and logically makes no sense. The media keeps repeating it until it becomes a truth and suddenly it is a stamp the player/team/manager has forever. United were doing bad because our players were poor, something media kept saying until it was on everybodies lips. DDG is shaky and United are looking for goalkeepers to replace him etc.

I am sure LVG won't be bothered, but the board may be a lot easier to move with media pressure.
Yeah especially with the stories last year about UTD squad needing "massive" surgery. We need signings for sure but feel like some of "massive" surgery mantra pushed by media and pundits and eventually accepted by fans
 
As well as a capable CM or two, we need to sign someone who can run at defenders like Robben does. Sanchez would be a very good signing. Or Van Gaal could get Nani playing again.

All these systems people keep posting, we missing pace badly.
 
As well as a capable CM or two, we need to sign someone who can run at defenders like Robben does. Sanchez would be a very good signing. Or Van Gaal could get Nani playing again.

All these systems people keep posting, we missing pace badly.
Januzaj is no Ronaldo but he's very fast and Valencia is extremely fast, he just forgot how to use it to his advantage.

If we indeed play 4-3-3 I'd like us to sign someone with pace, can punish teams on the counterattack and score 15 or more goals a season from out wide. Something which we lost with the loss of Ronaldo.

From our very limited set of wingers only Januzaj can develop into that.
 
We have Nani, the perfect style of winger for LVG. If we do keep him give him the Robben role.
Watching Sterling yesterday kind of reminded me of Nani.
Put Nani and Mata behind or to either side of RVP and let them roam around up front making short and incisive passes.
We need to stop trying to accommodate Rooney. We are not England.
 
People need to stop wishing that Nani will go back to the player he was in 2011.
 
I've been wanting us to try 3-5-2 for ages now. Think it would suit our personnel perfectly and allow the triumvirate of RVP, Rooney and Mata to all play together. We would still have Hernandez, Welbeck, Januzaj and Kagawa as backup. Valencia would be RWB cover for Rafael.

We would just need the LWB, CB and a CM and then we would be perfectly set up for it.
 
The Spanish victory was so enjoyable from a United perspective because it was so evident that the match was won on the training ground.

LVG isn't even necessarily a 3-5-2 man, and had spoken openly in the build up about how he thinks it will suit playing the Spanish.

Within 5 minutes I said to my mate 'ah, I can see Holland's plan here. They left Persie, Robben and Sneijder very high up the pitch, and tried to hit them as soon as possible with fast and direct transitions'. Worked to a tee, early balls to Persie and Robben twice all yielded goals. It was a LVG masterclass.

I'm sure the post match analysis has already been done here, so apologies for being a few days late!
 
People need to stop wishing that Nani will go back to the player he was in 2011.
The thing is he still shows his talent in very small, short glimpses. We can't really write him off.. look at his performance for Portugal the other day :drool:
 
I remember Sir Alex Ferguson being asked about 3 at the back in a pre-match interview. Couple of years ago, when Juve won their first title with it, I think. Sir Alex said that he didn't really see the use of it, and sharp as he was he remembered that last time he applied three at the back must have been against Wimbledon in 1996 or something.

Same goes for Van Gaal, he wouldn't see why we should use 3 at the back at United. Because the system he played with Holland vs. Spain made sure Holland didn't give away much, it was the best system for the players available and is specifically useful against teams that play extremely attackingly, like Spain and later in the group Chile. He is already thinking about playing 4-3-3 against Australia.

In tournament football it's about not getting knocked out. The problem with three at the back system is that you lack inniative. Perhaps we could use it against City when they're on great form, or in a CL final against Bayern or something. But against most teams that are equal or just a little better than United, playing good posession football in a 4-3-3ish set-up would help create way more chances and dominate play, which is what Van Gaal always wants.
 
I honestly believe he only played a 532 yesterday because it was against a team that likes to hog possession. It was just really good management - setting up a team based who they are playing not a set system ala Moyes.

It does make me feel a lot more optimistic over the appointment because for years people have thought the best way to beat possession teams is to play very defensive but at least Van Gaal is looking to attack instead of sitting back and nicking a goal...

Agreed, he has the ability to play different systems dependent on the opposition encompassing the players has at his disposal, exactly the opposite of Moyes who forced his idea of a set system on the players that he inherited and which obviously did not suit them; this made the players, as a whole, look as if they had suddenly become "easy" champions the previous season to a poor squad who all need replacing.
Admittedly it is an extreme example but if you asked Barcelona players to play kick and rush football it would not be successful.
 
The thing is he still shows his talent in very small, short glimpses. We can't really write him off.. look at his performance for Portugal the other day :drool:

We have to write him off...as well as Anderson.
They are not even good squad players because they are always either injured or out of form.
 
What you did is place mata and fellaini as our midfield two. They will be hopelessly overrun....neither fellaini nor mata can tackle.
For that to work you'd have to have a specialist cdm with mata..like one of the benders, carlvalho or Gustavo.
Huh? It's a midfield 3 with Carrick behind Mata and Fellaini.
 
This is a key quote to me:



I was worried that we would become unstuck at times because we wouldn't deviate from playing a possession based game, and there might be teams better at it than us, but the fact that he realises you can't play that way all of the time is reassuring.
Absolutely. The performance and quotes like this give me hope that he may be less naive than he has been in the past. United under fergie could change dynamically in the way that they played and it's something I'd love to see from this years team
 
I think what's evidently clear is that even without a single transfer in, he'll improve our performances significantly. Especially if more than just Van Persie can develop that close bond with him and take on his ideas.
 
I think what's evidently clear is that even without a single transfer in, he'll improve our performances significantly. Especially if more than just Van Persie can develop that close bond with him and take on his ideas.

Agreed. He'll have a big influence on the team.
 
We have to write him off...as well as Anderson.
They are not even good squad players because they are always either injured or out of form.

Agree. Impossible now to start a season with any expectation that those two will contribute. Two of the most frustrating players at the club. Access to the best of the best for 6/7 years at United and got worse. Anything from them is a bonus, if both gone by start of season, great news.
 
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