I like the optimist Sarni. Although, we will probably sign an actual box-to-box midfielder too. Maybe not a fourth striker (assuming Falcao isn't bought) unless there are departures.
The future under Van Gaal - lay your chips
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
I like the optimist Sarni. Although, we will probably sign an actual box-to-box midfielder too. Maybe not a fourth striker (assuming Falcao isn't bought) unless there are departures.
I honestly believe van Gaal will be here for the full three seasons at least. The board screwed up, firstly by not swiping Mourinho from under Chelsea's nose and secondly by giving Moyes a six year deal then pulling the plug after less than a season. Having thus screwed up, they will give van Gaal time because of his reputation and because he will convince them that he has a clear plan of action to address the shortcomings of this season.
We will finish fourth or fifth this season and we'll see 3-5-2 for the remainder thereof. Even though it is horrible to watch and our players (who presumably do actually train together daily) show no sign of understanding "the philosophy". He will already have formulated a system for next season based upon what he hopes to get plus contingency if he is thwarted in getting one or more of his targets.
Given he will have the benefit of i) a full preseason and ii) a summer free of international tournaments I expect him to be planning now to complete a lot of the reorganisation in tactics and personnel he wants this summer.
To this end, he will move ruthlessly and decisively to address firstly the defence, midfield and the current imbalance in the squad. He is probably genuinely shocked at the quality and, more glaringly, the fragility of the defenders he has.
Expect us to win a cup next season and be nailed ontop three and. With further fine tuning in the summer of 2016, be serious title contenders the following season.
Anderson will still be here after van Gaal has moved on.
We will finish fourth or fifth this season and we'll see 3-5-2 for the remainder thereof. Even though it is horrible to watch and our players (who presumably do actually train together daily) show no sign of understanding "the philosophy". He will already have formulated a system for next season based upon what he hopes to get plus contingency if he is thwarted in getting one or more of his targets.
Given he will have the benefit of i) a full preseason and ii) a summer free of international tournaments I expect him to be planning now to complete a lot of the reorganisation in tactics and personnel he wants this summer.
To this end, he will move ruthlessly and decisively to address firstly the defence, midfield and the current imbalance in the squad. He is probably genuinely shocked at the quality and, more glaringly, the fragility of the defenders he has.
Expect us to win a cup next season and be nailed ontop three and. With further fine tuning in the summer of 2016, be serious title contenders the following season.
Anderson will still be here after van Gaal has moved on.
Chelsea 2012.
My prediction at this exact moment: We finish 4th after Southampton drops off and we just manage to hold off a surging Spurs or Liverpool. Arsenal finish 3rd.
In the summer, we buy 2 or 3 high priced players. We're a million miles away from Chelsea, who repeat for the title but are able to play 4 at the back and improve our football and attacking play as a result, though our defense isn't good enough to win the title.
We do well in the CL with Van Gaal making us hard to beat, but lose to a proper contender like Bayern or Real Madrid.
The question for me is how we do in the league next year, and much of it will come down to transfers and how players like Herrera, Shaw, Rafael and Rojo/Smalling/Jones do under LVG and with injuries, and I have no idea how to predict that.
I am apparently a bit more optimistic than I thought I was.
In the summer, we buy 2 or 3 high priced players. We're a million miles away from Chelsea, who repeat for the title but are able to play 4 at the back and improve our football and attacking play as a result, though our defense isn't good enough to win the title.
We do well in the CL with Van Gaal making us hard to beat, but lose to a proper contender like Bayern or Real Madrid.
The question for me is how we do in the league next year, and much of it will come down to transfers and how players like Herrera, Shaw, Rafael and Rojo/Smalling/Jones do under LVG and with injuries, and I have no idea how to predict that.
I am apparently a bit more optimistic than I thought I was.
I'm fully behind van Gaal but I don't agree with the 3-5-2 at all. Sure we look more open with a 4 at the back, but this is manchester united and we should always be attack first. We watch football for entertainment and when we play the 3-5-2 it is some of the most boring stuff we've ever played. I also don't think he gives the 4-4-2 enough credit or has given it much thought as to how to balance it with our current players, for whatever reason.
I understand he likes the 3-5-2 but its very much a safety first formation and we look good defensively but useless going forward. Just get the players accustomed to playing a 4-3-3 type formation and play both Carrick and blind in midfield and we'll be fine. I don't have a problem with possession football, and I think van gaals a terrific manager and the right guy to lay the foundation for our next successful team, but I don't think his teams take enough risks on the pitch and so I don't think he'll be the one to lead us to a champions league title or something like that. I'm sure he can get us challenging once he stops being stubborn with his 3-5-2, but to actually be the best and win it, I think we'll need a manager who can take his very good team and give it that bit extra to make it the best team.
I understand he likes the 3-5-2 but its very much a safety first formation and we look good defensively but useless going forward. Just get the players accustomed to playing a 4-3-3 type formation and play both Carrick and blind in midfield and we'll be fine. I don't have a problem with possession football, and I think van gaals a terrific manager and the right guy to lay the foundation for our next successful team, but I don't think his teams take enough risks on the pitch and so I don't think he'll be the one to lead us to a champions league title or something like that. I'm sure he can get us challenging once he stops being stubborn with his 3-5-2, but to actually be the best and win it, I think we'll need a manager who can take his very good team and give it that bit extra to make it the best team.
I'm still 100% a LvG man and believe he will deliver us a title by the time he is done here. And I also think when he's gone we'll be in great shape for the years ahead. We might not have played like a top 3 side so far but we've also been nowhere near as bad as some make out. No side in the league has looked tidy bar Chelsea.
This is basically a bit of blind faith taken from his history, what we've seen so far this year and the direction he is trying to move us in. When some posters say things like they hate him, or are finding it hard not to hate him, that's baffling. He's a brilliant manager who's not Fergie and still in his first season in England. Arguably the best manager in the world had a better side, a more settled side last season and played some horrible stuff, finishing 3rd.
It's hard to see him not doing well here. And by well that's win a big trophy, not dominate like Fergie did. We'll never see that kind of success again.
This is basically a bit of blind faith taken from his history, what we've seen so far this year and the direction he is trying to move us in. When some posters say things like they hate him, or are finding it hard not to hate him, that's baffling. He's a brilliant manager who's not Fergie and still in his first season in England. Arguably the best manager in the world had a better side, a more settled side last season and played some horrible stuff, finishing 3rd.
It's hard to see him not doing well here. And by well that's win a big trophy, not dominate like Fergie did. We'll never see that kind of success again.
Even though it's not intended in this way, I have to say Van Gaal using 3-5-2 and the anger it revokes is brilliant, absolutely brilliant at shielding/taking the attention off the fact that some of our players are simply not good footballers and can't get enough slack for their decision making in some matches, both on and off the ball.
I think any beef towards LvG is more to do solely with the 352shit system.
If we were playing 4 at the back over the same time frame as 352shit, then a lot of ass twitching things he sees could have been worked on and dealt with.
Death to 352
If we were playing 4 at the back over the same time frame as 352shit, then a lot of ass twitching things he sees could have been worked on and dealt with.
Death to 352
My thoughts exactly
When does his contract run out? If he is here it won't be as a player.
He'll just turn up anyway probably.
We are his comfort blanket and personal gymnasium.
We'll continue with this awful football but manage to barely make top 4, but he'll lose the fans and the dressing room in the process, he'll be sacked halfway through next season i think.
I've reached a conclusion that van gaal treats football as a scientist, it's far too complicated with him, it's hard to explain.
It's like he makes decisions based only on each player's attributes, if you know what i mean, the same way we view them in a video game.
I need pace upfront, di maria is a good pacey player = di maria upfront.
I need someone strong on the ball + hard working + tracks back + good range of passing = rooney in midfield.
I need to have a pacey striker on the bench = drop falcao and add wilson.
Don't want players to get cocky = Never praise them in public, ever, even go out of your way to play it down.
Anyone on the left side of the pitch = Left footed.
He might not necessarily be wrong to think that way, but he completely ignores the human element, footballers aren't machines, most of them are really dumb, some needs to be cuddled, others need to be protected, it might mean the world for a player to be praised in public every once in a while, some players can only play in their comfortable position only, they might not be able to process all the information he's trying to feed them from day one. Football doesn't need to be this complicated.
I completely understand now why a player called him once a tragedy of a human being, he talks like a fecking robot.
Rant over.
I've reached a conclusion that van gaal treats football as a scientist, it's far too complicated with him, it's hard to explain.
It's like he makes decisions based only on each player's attributes, if you know what i mean, the same way we view them in a video game.
I need pace upfront, di maria is a good pacey player = di maria upfront.
I need someone strong on the ball + hard working + tracks back + good range of passing = rooney in midfield.
I need to have a pacey striker on the bench = drop falcao and add wilson.
Don't want players to get cocky = Never praise them in public, ever, even go out of your way to play it down.
Anyone on the left side of the pitch = Left footed.
He might not necessarily be wrong to think that way, but he completely ignores the human element, footballers aren't machines, most of them are really dumb, some needs to be cuddled, others need to be protected, it might mean the world for a player to be praised in public every once in a while, some players can only play in their comfortable position only, they might not be able to process all the information he's trying to feed them from day one. Football doesn't need to be this complicated.
I completely understand now why a player called him once a tragedy of a human being, he talks like a fecking robot.
Rant over.
need to get back to that spell of games we were nicely attacking.
never been a fan of possession for no reason, we've long mocked Arsenal for doing it, now we're doing it much less effectively/
never been a fan of possession for no reason, we've long mocked Arsenal for doing it, now we're doing it much less effectively/
I think in time he will lay some solid foundations for the next guy to come in and really steam ahead to some serious success.
I love possession based football, but what i don't like is the shite that we are producing in the last 3rd of the pitch. Reason why we are struggling is we have more than half the team behind the halfway line when we are attacking, and there are limited options to pass the ball around, so we resort to lumping the ball hoping for the striker to make something out of it.
No English team has played that 5-3-2 in the modern era and won the title. LvG needs to control his ego, and play a system where he can take advantage of the world class attacking talent he has at his disposal, otherwise the sooner Woody wields his axe the better.
No English team has played that 5-3-2 in the modern era and won the title. LvG needs to control his ego, and play a system where he can take advantage of the world class attacking talent he has at his disposal, otherwise the sooner Woody wields his axe the better.
My prediction,
We WON'T get top 4 this year due to his stubbornness. I just don't think he has the tactical nous to get us back to the top. I believe he will be sacked at some point maybe into next season and I hope so because we will just fall even further behind city and Chelsea.
Basically he isn't the man to rebuild us or lay the foundations for a new manager whoever that may be.
We WON'T get top 4 this year due to his stubbornness. I just don't think he has the tactical nous to get us back to the top. I believe he will be sacked at some point maybe into next season and I hope so because we will just fall even further behind city and Chelsea.
Basically he isn't the man to rebuild us or lay the foundations for a new manager whoever that may be.
We'll finish 3rd this season, have a Muppetry great summer in the transfer window. Bring in some defensive reinforcements along with Pogba and we'll have a real good crack at the title next season.
LVG will be a success, his final game as manager will be to lift the UCL trophy in 2017.
LVG will be a success, his final game as manager will be to lift the UCL trophy in 2017.
Predictions ain't my forte, but if we throw in a bit of what I hope (more than actually predict based on either reason or psychic powers) and a bit of LVG's previous history, I'd say we could be looking at this:
We finish 4th. I don't really care how we do it - if he insists on the 3-5-2, so be it. If he can make us finish in the top four, that will be adequate for my money. The rest of this season will be hard on the eyes and the nerves - but we will do the job and LVG won't be sacked.
Next season will be much better. We'll look like much more of a unit on the pitch, being hard to beat and considerably more fluent going forward. This will happen regardless of which formation he opts for - but I personally think he'll benefit from ditching the 3-5-2 after having secured a couple of defenders he trusts. In terms of trophies we'll be strong enough to contend - but it's by no means certain we'll win anything. Chelsea under Maureen is a formidable opponent and the cups are always partly a lottery.
Third season will either be much like the second season - or worse. I doubt it will be an improvement.
Finally, on style: We won't change to the extent that those who positively loathe the actual "philosophy" (not the clearly sub par attempts at executing it we've seen so far, but the brand of football itself) will embrace our style. But we will definitely enter a phase where we look much more coherent and easier on the eye than we are at the moment if LVG is given time to properly implement his ideas.
We finish 4th. I don't really care how we do it - if he insists on the 3-5-2, so be it. If he can make us finish in the top four, that will be adequate for my money. The rest of this season will be hard on the eyes and the nerves - but we will do the job and LVG won't be sacked.
Next season will be much better. We'll look like much more of a unit on the pitch, being hard to beat and considerably more fluent going forward. This will happen regardless of which formation he opts for - but I personally think he'll benefit from ditching the 3-5-2 after having secured a couple of defenders he trusts. In terms of trophies we'll be strong enough to contend - but it's by no means certain we'll win anything. Chelsea under Maureen is a formidable opponent and the cups are always partly a lottery.
Third season will either be much like the second season - or worse. I doubt it will be an improvement.
Finally, on style: We won't change to the extent that those who positively loathe the actual "philosophy" (not the clearly sub par attempts at executing it we've seen so far, but the brand of football itself) will embrace our style. But we will definitely enter a phase where we look much more coherent and easier on the eye than we are at the moment if LVG is given time to properly implement his ideas.
This season--4th
Summer--more signings
Next season--a title challenge but not win it and a respectable cl showing
3rd season--either a cl or pl win
Summer--more signings
Next season--a title challenge but not win it and a respectable cl showing
3rd season--either a cl or pl win
I think he'll be fine once he clears out some of these atrocious defenders.
The defence has been fine today apart from a few Jones brain farts.
Definitely on some kind of chemical enhancement with the decisions he's been making. His record as a manager says he's not terrible (his record is pretty great) and he carries himself so well. I'm confident he can get us in the top 4. But there's no way he should be making some of the decisions he's making. Its like he's using us as an experiment for all these mental ideas.
Sack him, performances are no better than under Moyes despite the money spent. Continues to play ridiculous formations and line ups. Has no clear idea for the future needs to go.
Hard to tell, but we sure have had our ups and downs this season. Anyway, i don't want him gone (even if we miss out on top 4). His past achievements speak for themselves, chopping and changing won't do any good, and as far as i know, there aren't many unemployed top managers out there.
This year: 4th
Summer: Brings in at least two big signings this summer.
Next year: 2nd behind Chelsea, decent CL run
Third year: Impossible to predict.
This year: 4th
Summer: Brings in at least two big signings this summer.
Next year: 2nd behind Chelsea, decent CL run
Third year: Impossible to predict.
If the future is going to continue with this atrocious style of sideways football, then we may as well bring back Moyes. At least we actually had a go at teams....just got beat in the process!
Great vision and philosophy so far this season.
Great vision and philosophy so far this season.
Future: known for moulding Jones into the worlds best corner taker.
Spends tons of money and we get the right players in.
Will play boring sideways football, full of possesion but none the less grinds out results and maybe wins a couple of trophies - none of which are the premier league so he gets sacked.
New manager plays a hugely attractive style of football and is very succesfull. LVG gets all the praise and recognition because he set the foundations that changed the club and its footballing "philosophy".
Spends tons of money and we get the right players in.
Will play boring sideways football, full of possesion but none the less grinds out results and maybe wins a couple of trophies - none of which are the premier league so he gets sacked.
New manager plays a hugely attractive style of football and is very succesfull. LVG gets all the praise and recognition because he set the foundations that changed the club and its footballing "philosophy".
I would agree with a lot of you have posted there except for the bit highlighted.I think we are a bit away from challenging City and Chelsea for a title just yet,Will LVG be in charge next season if we finish outside top 4 and our final league position is poor ?
For the record I hope he is still there as there are signs of improvement but will Eddie be as ruthless as Abramovich ?
It seems to be a common trend on here that were going to be back next season but I think there is still a bit of work to be done to this team.
The most irritating thing is that every man and his dog knows this 3-5-2 is utter bollox and doesn't work but the only way he would change it is if we went a goal down.
I think he'll be gone either at Christmas next season or the end of next season. Unless he pulls a rabbit out his arse or something.
If its looking like we won't get CL this year anyone think he'll go?
I think its plausible with that money on the line.
I think its plausible with that money on the line.
My heart says we will get in the Top 4 this season but I think that is mainly just hope over anything. My head says we will finish 5th to a load of excuses from Van Gaal, which leads him to spending big next Summer. Long term I don't know at this point, I can't see us ever winning the league playing like this if truth be told but can't see Van Gaal changing formation now. The worst part from a personal point of view is that I look forward to our games every week and then we are treated to absolute utter dross and I question why I look forward to watching our games 
That could explain the twitching...
He got us to play like this within 2 weeks without any new player.
6 months later there's no sign of that football to come.
He won't walk. I'm fully expecting a barrage of excuses if he fails to get in the Top 4 and none of them will be down to him.
I don't mean him walking, I mean him being 'escorted from the premises'
He will given next season IMO but if we are still playing like this by Christmas then he will be a goner, no matter what excuses he wants to come out with.
If I was LVG Id resign. After spending 150m you have to win against frigging Cambridge.
I am losing faith rapidly. This is bloody awful.