I think he should let someone else pick the line-up, formation, give the team instructions and make decisions in-game. He can do the training, and man-management, buy the right players for the squad, develop some of the tactics but when it comes to the actual game he doesn't seem to make the right decisions
Louis Van Gaal | 2015-16 Performance Thread
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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.
He missed an opportunity to create one of the memorable funny moments in football by substituting Fellaini after Demichelis came on.
Other than that I'm happy today.
We've played a lot of the better sides in the league - Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Swansea, Spurs, Everton and Southampton is a strong lineup in your first 10 matches, and we're two points off the top with a lot of the smaller sides to play.
Other than that I'm happy today.
We've played a lot of the better sides in the league - Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Swansea, Spurs, Everton and Southampton is a strong lineup in your first 10 matches, and we're two points off the top with a lot of the smaller sides to play.
Great point. Imagine what the situation would be if we would push for a win today.
Couldn't agree more. The main doubt I have about van Gaal is his failure to sacrifice Rooney for the betterment of the team. It looks weak at best, daft at worst.
Only blot on his sheet for me is his fascination with Rooney.
Fair assessment.
We kept it right like we should in big games and a point is a good result.
Rooney was poor again and should have been subbed. Martial offers so much more.
Perfect director of football, good manager.
fans were screaming for Rooney to be palyed up front and he said yes, I would play him there... Dunno how's mood inside the Old Trafford but I'd say noone can deny he's been shit and everybody wants to drop him. I hope he's listening now
Funny how no one in here has mentioned him making the right call at full back despite everyone calling for Darmian and Blind to play.
Plus we haven't been very good compared to what we could be and what a Louis van Gaal team can do. It's usual for him to start slowly, my biggest concern this season was the slow start would put us out of the title race.
It's now at the point where a Louis van Gaal team starts to click, the game against Everton was the sign for me it's close, that Everton game is how Louis van Gaal wants us playing consistently. He'll continue to work at it and hopefully we'll have a consistent run of good results and good performances soon.
It's a good point but what about Chelsea, Palace, Leicester, West Ham, Stoke? Also very tough games and we are yet to play them. I don't disagree that we've had a fairly tough start to the season but all games in the league these days are tough. What we need to do is so better in our home games. Dropping points to the likes of Newcastle is not good enough and any repeats of that and we will be in trouble.
LVG could actually bank a lot of brownie points with the fans if he were to drop Rooney. Now who would have thought that 15 months ago? When most of us were worried that he'd pick RVP as his captain and Rooney would want to leave as a result.
My issue here though is haven't we heard this all before? When we beat Spurs, Liverpool and City easily? And then proceeded to decline. There's been a few signs over LVGs time at the club where we think it's coming. We think it's clicking and then we end up back to square one. The Everton game was very good but then the CSKA and City game wasn't. So that's two fairly poor to average performances after a very good one. Isn't that familiar?
All I can think is that Rooney is an absolute beast in training and the players all love him.
Very reasonable explanations for going on a shit run after those games last seasons. Injuries to key players all of a sudden picked up again, top 4 was virtually secured so not the same motivation as before seeing as it hardly makes a difference if you're 2nd/3rd/4th. Carrick was a huge part of how we played last season because he was the only proper holding midfielder, and he got injured in the city game so we had to play with Rooney/Herrera/fellaini as our midfield 3 and use Falcao up front right after. Obviously we'll struggle a bit. Now we have Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Carrick, Herrera all who can play in midfield so we won't have those same struggles like we had without Carrick last season.
Also the Everton game was great, CSKA game was a decent result in a tough away game we controlled completely, and the City game again we were the far better team, but was a hard game overall. 2 very tough games where we were the better team in both for sure and put in very decent performances, just didn't create enough to win in the end. Hardly surprising when one is a top of the table clash and the other is a game in Moscow in below 0 conditions.
In no way are these games comparable to the run we've just had. Stoke have been laughably inconsistent and Palace have had a woeful month, Never mind what Chelsea are at. How they make your list I do not know. You might as well have every other PL team outside of Sunderland if that's your outlook.
A horrible run of fixtures over the last 5/6 weeks and we've only dropped 5 points. Credit where it's due.
I'm sorry but it's excuse after excuse to defend LVG. If this was Moyes it would be "he's not right for the club", "he's in too deep", "it's too big a step" and so on. But all LVG seems to get is excuse after excuse.
By the way I'm not having a pop directly at you. I'm just getting to the point where I'm bored of the excuses. I'm bored of people defending the guy and giving him so many excuses.
First it's that he needs time, then it's that he has lots of injuries, then it's because he doesn't yet have the players. In some games it's been because he hasn't had the referee decisions go his way or he's had bad luck. He's had a lot of time, he's bought the players that he wants and decided not to add further when it was clear what we needed.
The CSKA game was not decent. OK the result was OK but it was a dire performance. A game that we had a lot of the ball but never really looked like scoring in. OK we got the goal in the end but that was our one really good chance. The city game was much of the same. Our best chances came after 80 minutes. It took us that long to have a really good chance. Against a team set up to defend and take away a point.
Creating chances has been a problem for a long long time now. I'm sure we created more under Moyes with supposedly lesser players.
Sorry but this is all a load of shit really. The CSKA game was a standard away game in Europe how we played under Fergie. And it happens in big games where it's just a deadlock and teams cancel each other out.
Also, what do you mean excuse after excuse? He's achieving every goal so far. We got top 4 last season, and this season we are challenging for the title and are 2 points off away despite playing probably a harder schedule then the others. If this was Moyes getting the same results, everyone would be shocked that he's actually doing something good. Van Gaal doesn't need any excuses, though there are a lot he could point to if he wanted to. He's getting the job done and picking up the results which we need. He has us in a good position to qualify to the next round of the champions league, he's made some excellent signings, completely rebuilt our squad and got rid of basically all the deadwood, and in addition, we have some of the most promising u21 players in the world. Martial and Shaw in particular.
You're talking like he's loitering around in mid table and we are struggling when that couldn't be further from the truth really.
Rich, we don't have the attacking talent to just roll over opponents and create chance after chance. There is players with alot of potential, but our best attacker right now is a 19 year old.
It's a rebuilding phase we are in at the moment, things didn't go smooth after SAF retired and the State of the squad was horrible. LvG has done a good job getting us back in the CL with a fragile squad and progress is showing, but it takes time.
We can't unfortunately just go out and buy the best attackers because they are unavailable for the most part. We have to find the right players and not just add new players headlessly, that would only see us stagnate.
Hang tight, i'm sure in 1 or 2 years we will compete with the best.
It's a rebuilding phase we are in at the moment, things didn't go smooth after SAF retired and the State of the squad was horrible. LvG has done a good job getting us back in the CL with a fragile squad and progress is showing, but it takes time.
We can't unfortunately just go out and buy the best attackers because they are unavailable for the most part. We have to find the right players and not just add new players headlessly, that would only see us stagnate.
Hang tight, i'm sure in 1 or 2 years we will compete with the best.
Bull, City have one of the best defense in the league, it was never going to be easy to have any shots at goal or any outright goals against them and the way they were set up being defensively since they had no attack, proved this. They had no attack and hence the low shots at goal for them.
Big whoop... Should we raise a statue of lord LVG for achieving the minimum objective last year? And praise him that less than a third of the way in to the season he's 2 tops off top? Because I just don't see it that way. For all the money he's spent what's he has achieved is bare minimum.
And who's fault exactly is it that we don't have the attacking players at our disposal that we need? Yep that would be LVGs fault. We don't have the attacking talent despite all the money that has been spent. Hardly a great defense of LVG is it?
So far the way I see it he's achieved nothing that wasn't demanded. Had he failed to of gotten top 4 last season he'd be gone now. Until he wins something given the money and resources he's got he's not done a good job. Once he wins a major trophy then I'll start to praise him but not before. What he's done so far is like I've said bare minimum. And he's done it in a way that's destroyed the clubs principles.
Another excuse for LVG. Oh boo hoo city came to Old Trafford content to take away a point. City came happy that a point away was a good result and that when we go to their place they'll come at us if needs be. Poor LVG for having £250m to spend and barely being happy to create a single chance. Once again that's not good enough and it wouldn't have been under Fergie either.
Yep. We should be 20 points clear by now after LVG led us to the title immediately after United were on their knees after the Moyes debacle.
=not the bare minimum
=not the bare minimum
Forget the money LVG has spent. Other clubs in England, spent money too. Look at what City spent last summer. I'm not sure I agree with all LVG's decisions but he's been mostly decisive in his decision making. I think we're in fairly good shape. Last season was a freak with the injuries we had and players on loan. Though we didn't beat City, for all the money they spent? They showed us respect. So we have some personality back in the team and we've players like Depay, Wilson - players who could be important as the season progresses.
We are still short and most people know that but it looks like LVG wants a smaller squad and wants to look at the youth. We came out of a difficult run (made more difficult by being punished for every mistake at Arsenal), in decent shape. The draw in Moscow gives us a good chance and we're two points off the top spot. We now have to get back to winning ways, because we gave up top spot far too easily.
We are still short and most people know that but it looks like LVG wants a smaller squad and wants to look at the youth. We came out of a difficult run (made more difficult by being punished for every mistake at Arsenal), in decent shape. The draw in Moscow gives us a good chance and we're two points off the top spot. We now have to get back to winning ways, because we gave up top spot far too easily.
Which players should he have bought that would have put us up to the level required? The answer is they weren't available even though we pushed hard for Muller and Bale.
I don't think you realise the job he has had to do, alot of deadwood in our squad and RvP on decline, coming from a season where we finished 7th which destroyed the mentality that SAF had build up over so many years.
He hasn't done an amazing job or anything, I don't see anyone saying that? He's done pretty much to par. Everyone knew that it would take time after Fergie, and especially after the mess Moyes left us in. He's had to completely rebuild our squad and changed the style completely. Sure, we aren't as free flowing as we once were under Fergie (don't forget that we were awful to watch for his last few years anyways, with the zombie passing thread one of the most popular ones on here), but Van Gaal has got our very young squad doing relatively well and competing for the title. He's made our defence very solid and improved and bed in all our young players that we had. We also have the best midfield in the league by a distance IMO, after it was pretty shite for years. Our attack has been poor, but what can you expect when Van Persie and Rooney declined so much and so quickly after they were such important players for United? Especially Rooney.
Take off the anti Van Gaal blinkers and it's obvious to see all the good he's done for United so far. We're without a doubt going to be one of the top teams again in a couple of years with the young players we have, but these things take time. You can't just spend 100m and then expect your team to click and everything to work out perfectly. You need the right players with the right attitudes. How much have City spent since they were taken over? And how far have they gotten in the Champions league? Round of 16 max I think? Wouldn't surprise me to see us beat that already this season. But going forward, we have Martial, a future potential ballon d'or winner, Shaw, who was already playing like the best left back in the league and will surely become one of the best in the world, Memphis, Januzaj and pereira who all have massive potential, and then our main starting 11 players are for the most part 25 or 26 and under. Schweinsteiger/Carrick/Rooney are the senior players who are helping bed through this transition phase, but the rest still have their best years all ahead of them. So a bit of perspective is needed. And patience, which you seemingly have 0 of. Also, what's the point of saying if he failed to get top 4 he'd be gone? If Fergie didn't want all his trophies then he wouldn't have lasted so long at United either. We comfortably made top 4 last season, and are competing for the title this season, and have continually improved. Sorry we aren't attacking with blistering pace, but that's not how Van Gaal's teams play. They look to dominate through patient possession, give away very few chances (like United do), and wait for the opening to come to score goals. With better players in attack it would look a lot better, like it does the rare times Rooney plays well or whenever Martial plays up top. But if it were up to people like you, you'd give up on youngsters like Januzaj/Memphis/pereira and just buy any established star just to have instant success when it doesn't work like that at all.
There were players out there. What about Sterling, KDB? West Ham spread their net and have picked up maybe the signing of the summer in Payet. Hell we couldn't even get a deal done to sign Mane who would add to this squad! There are players in the Premier League who are making a huge impact... It doesn't have to be about signing the top top players all of the time. Signing players who can add what we need in pace and skill and can become world stars is the way we've always worked in the past.
I appreciate he had a big job to do. I just don't think he's done a great job. We are playing dire football and football that at times won't break down half decent defences let alone the best.
Well no, I'm talking about what happens when Louis van Gaal has a successful season. Last season was not one of his best teams, it might or might not click this season but when it does he still usually has a slow start to the season. And for this reason I'm happy that despite not starting the season well in terms of performance (as expected), we managed to get the points we needed.
As for Louis van Gaal, if he is to have a successful season then we will hit a run of form soon where we play consistently well, his teams of the past have done it. If the manager has an unsuccessful season then us putting points on the board early is irrelevant.
So far his performance is fine, as Ferguson commented it is always difficult when there are a lot of changes to a squad, but he has positioned himself well.
There is alot of different reasons why we didn't ADD those players you name. We have to remember that we bought Martial and Depay who as you say can turn into World class players.
So you do appreciate the job he had to do, that's good. Well, maybe he hasn't done a great job, but i'm not sure we we're capable of achieving more than the 4th place we did last year, it would have taken a bit of a miracle when you think of all the injuries, the general quality in our squad and the fact that LvG had to implement a completely different style of football to what the players we're used to.
I personally think we are heading in the right direction, but i don't expect us to win the title this year, you never know though.
About the name you mentioned, Sterling(from Liverpool FC), KDB(I don't know), Payet(a talented 28 years old french player known for his inconsistency), Mané( Like Schneiderlin last season, Southampton weren't going to sell their entire team in one summer).
Buying players is hard mainly because when you buy a player there is no refund, because their clubs aren't necessarily selling, because the players don't necessarily want to join you and because sometimes you wrongly trust your own players. Using hindsight and play the armchair managers is very easy.
We are fans the club isn't disappearing but is heading in the right direction there is no reason to be impatient.
Would city and Chelsea have sat back last season and been happy for their team to finish in 4th by the skin of their teeth? I'm not so sure they would have been so why is that now good enough for us?
People can say forget about the money but you can't. You can't ignore the huge sums of money we've spent. When you spend that kind of money you expect a lot more I think than what we've managed.
OK say this season goes OK and we finish 3rd. That's realistic and achievable. It won't be easy but it can be done. Is that acceptable come the end of the season? Say we are 10 points off the champions. Is that really the kind of improvement we'd accept for all the money spent?
I'll ask supporters of LVG this. What is acceptable this season? Because let's not forget whilst we get acceptable results it masks the hideous football we play. If results turned then my god LVG is going to have a problem because he's ruining the soul of our football philosophy at the club.
Because for me nothing short of a title challenge with improved football is good enough. Not in every game as that's not realistic but in most games. Anything less than that isn't good enough and would need a change in manager for sure.
People can say forget about the money but you can't. You can't ignore the huge sums of money we've spent. When you spend that kind of money you expect a lot more I think than what we've managed.
OK say this season goes OK and we finish 3rd. That's realistic and achievable. It won't be easy but it can be done. Is that acceptable come the end of the season? Say we are 10 points off the champions. Is that really the kind of improvement we'd accept for all the money spent?
I'll ask supporters of LVG this. What is acceptable this season? Because let's not forget whilst we get acceptable results it masks the hideous football we play. If results turned then my god LVG is going to have a problem because he's ruining the soul of our football philosophy at the club.
Because for me nothing short of a title challenge with improved football is good enough. Not in every game as that's not realistic but in most games. Anything less than that isn't good enough and would need a change in manager for sure.
Improved football is subjective though. Some fans like fast paced, counter attacking football. Others, like Van Gaal, enjoy 70% possession, limiting the opposition to no chances at all and creating a decent amount and dominating the game. You can't criticize him for having a different opinion to you. And of course City or Chelsea wouldn't have been satisfied with just top 4 last season. That's a stupid comparison though, as they weren't coming off the back of a 7th place finish, having lost Rio, Vidic, Evra, Giggs and many others in one summer. I'm not sure how you're just so quickly ignoring the scale of changes that we've had at United the last couple of years. That has a huge impact. Anyways, for the most part, we are playing decent football. The last few games haven't been exciting sure, but we are definitely a very good team again in terms of our midfield and defensive organization.
What's acceptable this season? Making a title challenge. Which is what we're doing. The number 1 priority at United is becoming a quality team again and getting results, and Van Gaal knows how to rebuild teams better then anyone right now. We have a very solid team right now and made very good signings. It's just our attacking signings are all more potential rather then players who will make a huge difference right away (as Martial has managed to do anyway).
1 came from liverpool who would never have sold to us. And we bought Memphis anyway. Both have been pretty bad this season, but both have huge potential. We'll see who's better long term of the two of them. And we didn't really need De Bruyne? We needed a pacey striker/winger. Not an attacking midfielder who doesn't have that much pace. We have Mata to play the role that De Bruyne would. Martial has looked as good as anyone in the league though this season, and signed for a similar amount of money that City paid for De Bruyne. And he's somebody who looks like he could become the very best player in the world. I don't know why you're pretending like we haven't made good signings when pretty much our summer business was excellent overall.
Who would you go for?
Yes what about Sterling and KDB? How much was spent on them and where were they on Sunday? I would be calling the cops on Van Gaal if so much of my money went missing at Old Trafford.
Based on your "opinion", Pellegrini should be sacked as they were second best to United after how much money spent? And Wenger too for his abysmal showing in champions league and now league cup. So should Klopp whom have not even won one game after he came. Lets not talk about Mourinho. By the time December comes, no team in the Premier League will have a manager, maybe except Bilic, since he has been punching over his head at the moment.
Isnt that a sackable offense for city's manager (how much was spent on sterling, KDB and Bony?) based on your high expectations? Or your opinion is just limited to Van Gaal and United? It was City that barely created a chance and I am pretty sure I saw United hit the bar, Hart performing a world class save couple of times and I think De Gea was just plucking his nose whole game.
Compare this 0-0 city game where we dominated with those city games with Moyes at the helm and you may know why "he's not right for the club", "he's in too deep", "it's too big a step" and so on were used. I am not sure you are thinking clearly.
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We have spent loads of money and the results RIGHT NOW are not everything I had hoped. We may not reap the rewards of our transfer splurge for years to come, but players like Shaw & Martial could be paying us back for decades. Some time down the road we will look back on this period with fondness, and think about how the nucleus of the next MUFC dynasty was fused. We are already seeing glimpses of the future.
The money is obscene but like it or not, that is the cost of doing business. Competing at the top end of the richest league, against teams funded by oligarchs and royal families, is expensive and full of risk. Agents, players, and other clubs will always want us to pay more than Villareal or Milan. And thanks to our Executive Vice Chairman we have the money and the risk tolerance.
To answer your question, a third place finish this season would be acceptable, but no better than that. Third place next season would not be. You'll see us back to title winning form soon enough. The difference this time is that we know how to SUSTAIN that instead of letting it slowly slip away.
I'll ignore the rest of the frankly pathetic and hysterical post and would like to say that comparing us to City and Chelsea last season is sheer stupidity. Some of our fans need a reality check.
City and Chelsea finished 1 and 2 respectively whilst we finished 7th and had a lot of deadwood in our squad. People who keep on harping about LvG spending forget about the fact that the only reason he had to do this spending is because Fergie and Moyes made something of a mess our of transfers.
LvG inherited a team which had no defence(Smalling, Evans and Jones were quite injury prone), one quality midfielder, two wingers who weren't good enough and four strikers out of which two were above their best(RvP and Rooney) and there were serious doubts about the other two(Welbeck and Hernandez).
Its easy to make blank statements like LvG spend 250m, if you ignore the context behind it.
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He's not the right man for the long term, not least because he wants to retire. But I think he's building something special, and even if we're not at our best until after he's gone, the defensive solidarity he's establishing now will be incredibly rewarding in the long run. Also think he's brought in a lot of players that are big parts of our future (Martial, Memphis, Shaw, Schneiderlin, Darmian, etc).
Chelsea and City weren't 7th two seasons ago. Given how far we fell, I have no problem taking some time to climb back up again. In fact, it's essential to take time to climb back up in order to do it right, and to stay at the top when you get there.
Most of the money spent (especially this season) have been long-term investments. Luke Shaw, Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, Antony Martial, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera; all those players are the kind you buy if you're building a new team. We tried buying for the short term (Di Maria, Falcao), and it was a disaster. Frankly, I'm thankful Van Gaal learned that lesson (which a lot of top managers don't).
Yes, 10 points of the Champions is a very disappointing season. But it's fairly redundant to suggest that would happen when we're two points off the leaders after 10 games.
Your next statement is what makes me crazy. It's so short sighted. What is acceptable this season frankly is only partly to do with results. Yes our football isn't great at the moment, but I frankly couldn't give a feck. Van Gaal is not here to get us to play perfect football, he is here to turn us into a force for years to come, and that has to be done one step at a time. The step we're at now is becoming defensively solid, and strong in midfield, and given that 12 months ago we were losing 5-3 to Leicester, I'd say that's pretty important. If our football is as average as this next season, then yeah, I'll probably be worried, but right now I'm fine with scrappy 1-0 wins, because unlike crazy, end to end, reckless football, that's something you can build upon. Three years from now, you'll be thanking your lucky stars Van Gaal attended to the basics first.
Chelsea and City weren't 7th two seasons ago. Given how far we fell, I have no problem taking some time to climb back up again. In fact, it's essential to take time to climb back up in order to do it right, and to stay at the top when you get there.
Most of the money spent (especially this season) have been long-term investments. Luke Shaw, Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, Antony Martial, Daley Blind, Ander Herrera; all those players are the kind you buy if you're building a new team. We tried buying for the short term (Di Maria, Falcao), and it was a disaster. Frankly, I'm thankful Van Gaal learned that lesson (which a lot of top managers don't).
Yes, 10 points of the Champions is a very disappointing season. But it's fairly redundant to suggest that would happen when we're two points off the leaders after 10 games.
Your next statement is what makes me crazy. It's so short sighted. What is acceptable this season frankly is only partly to do with results. Yes our football isn't great at the moment, but I frankly couldn't give a feck. Van Gaal is not here to get us to play perfect football, he is here to turn us into a force for years to come, and that has to be done one step at a time. The step we're at now is becoming defensively solid, and strong in midfield, and given that 12 months ago we were losing 5-3 to Leicester, I'd say that's pretty important. If our football is as average as this next season, then yeah, I'll probably be worried, but right now I'm fine with scrappy 1-0 wins, because unlike crazy, end to end, reckless football, that's something you can build upon. Three years from now, you'll be thanking your lucky stars Van Gaal attended to the basics first.
OK so having read through those responses to my posts it would seem that my concerns are absolutely correct. United fans have now become about making top 4. Shall we try to encourage the Premier League to give teams a trophy for that?
Has LVG done a bad job? No. Has he done a great job? No. And to be the manager of our club I think you need to do great things.
Yes there's been a lot of change. Yes there's been players in and out. But this isn't LVGs first season anymore. He's had time to build his team and get them playing the way that he wants. And that's what we are seeing now. Dull football that is all about limiting your opponents chances rather than going out there to create as many chances as you can.
And this is the kind of view I never thought I'd hear from a United fan. You're happy to sacrifice the clubs philosophy to win trophies and I honestly thought that would never be the case. OK so you don't mind the football we play and that's your opinion. I do and that is my opinion. And that is one of the reasons I don't like LVG, I don't think he's gone a good job and I can't wait for him to leave. I want us to play attractive attacking football. Not this cautious approach which is more about stopping the opposition.
Yes some of our fans so need a reality check. Some of our fans need to remember that we are Manchester United! And that means we always strive for the top and to be the best. That means not settling for 4th place.
Let's not forget that we finished 4th because of others shortfallings and not because LVG made us this quality team again. Liverpool had a dire season as did Everton and Spurs. Our run of 3 good performances saved what looked like another season outside the top 4. This season right now we are only 2 points off the top. Well done boys not a third of the season gone and just like West Ham and Leicester you are in the title fight.
By the end of the season we will not be in the title race just like West Ham and Leicester. We will be a good 10 points off and more than likely in a dog fight to stay in the top 4. If I'm wrong then I'll eat my words and give LVG some credit. But I don't think I will be. That's my opinion and nobody is going to change that.
Two seasons ago I predicted we'd finish 5th. I was clearly being optimistic. Last season I predicted 5th and wasn't far off. This season I'm going 4th / 5th depending on how long West Ham and Leicester stay in touch. How long it takes Klopp to get things working and how he signs in January. Yes that's being negative but that's where I see our squad and that's why LVG hasn't done a good job. Our defence is one more injury away from being pretty darn awful again. Our midfield is hinged on Carrick and Schweinsteiger staying fit which they haven't done for a while and our attack just needs Martial to drop off and we've had it. Any one of those factors comes in to play and watch things go south.
Has LVG done a bad job? No. Has he done a great job? No. And to be the manager of our club I think you need to do great things.
Yes there's been a lot of change. Yes there's been players in and out. But this isn't LVGs first season anymore. He's had time to build his team and get them playing the way that he wants. And that's what we are seeing now. Dull football that is all about limiting your opponents chances rather than going out there to create as many chances as you can.
And this is the kind of view I never thought I'd hear from a United fan. You're happy to sacrifice the clubs philosophy to win trophies and I honestly thought that would never be the case. OK so you don't mind the football we play and that's your opinion. I do and that is my opinion. And that is one of the reasons I don't like LVG, I don't think he's gone a good job and I can't wait for him to leave. I want us to play attractive attacking football. Not this cautious approach which is more about stopping the opposition.
Yes some of our fans so need a reality check. Some of our fans need to remember that we are Manchester United! And that means we always strive for the top and to be the best. That means not settling for 4th place.
Let's not forget that we finished 4th because of others shortfallings and not because LVG made us this quality team again. Liverpool had a dire season as did Everton and Spurs. Our run of 3 good performances saved what looked like another season outside the top 4. This season right now we are only 2 points off the top. Well done boys not a third of the season gone and just like West Ham and Leicester you are in the title fight.
By the end of the season we will not be in the title race just like West Ham and Leicester. We will be a good 10 points off and more than likely in a dog fight to stay in the top 4. If I'm wrong then I'll eat my words and give LVG some credit. But I don't think I will be. That's my opinion and nobody is going to change that.
Two seasons ago I predicted we'd finish 5th. I was clearly being optimistic. Last season I predicted 5th and wasn't far off. This season I'm going 4th / 5th depending on how long West Ham and Leicester stay in touch. How long it takes Klopp to get things working and how he signs in January. Yes that's being negative but that's where I see our squad and that's why LVG hasn't done a good job. Our defence is one more injury away from being pretty darn awful again. Our midfield is hinged on Carrick and Schweinsteiger staying fit which they haven't done for a while and our attack just needs Martial to drop off and we've had it. Any one of those factors comes in to play and watch things go south.