Di Maria, Herrera and Shaw

Balu said:
He never seemed particularly interested in transfers unless he knew the players from before. Most of the players he really wanted were weak and/or bad fits and it didn't look like he had a real plan how to use them. He really seems to struggle to judge players before they trained and played under him for several months, which makes big transfers basically a huge gamble and it shows in his highly questionable transfer record. Robben is the only player we signed during van Gaal's time as Bayern manager who was still at the club 3 years after van Gaal left and Robben was pushed on him by the board because we panicked after a shockingly bad start. Van Gaal helped to make the deal happen in the end, but Robben wasn't really his signing in the first place.

It was just as bad if not worse during his time at Barca, where he just bought one Dutch player after the next one and alienated the fans with his signings, who mostly sucked when playing for the team.
Click to expand...

Strange assesment. Robben is a Van Gaal signing. In every transfer there is a board involved, Bayern were a big club and the fact that he didn't want to go to Italy and had already played in England and Spain also played a part in the transfer. But I've literally heard Robben say that the fact that he personally knew van Gaal and had worked with him before (In Argentina, at the World Cup -21 in 2001) was vital for him coming to Bayern. But obviously Van Gaal didn't want him, because he didn't already know how good Robben was and he had loads of other world class options for the right wing.

I'd say what happened is this: the Bayern board brought in Gomez and Tymoschuk for 50+ million euro and Olic for almost nothing, then they signed Van Gaal. He brought in Pranjic, Braafheid and Robben for 40 million euro and won the Bundesliga, the cup and made it to a Champions League final. Without really using record signing Gomez and Tymoshuk, he played Schweinsteiger in midfield and Olic up front.

Second season Kroos came back from Leverkusen, Alaba was breaking through. Meaning he had Van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Tymoschuk as midfield options. Müller, Robben, Ribéry, Gomez, Olic as attacking options. Lahm, Alaba as (potentially) world class players in defense. The only thing that squad really needed to improve was a world class defender, but there aren't that many out there, and I don't know who was for sale that summer.

I think that was the biggest 'mistake' Bayern including Van Gaal made, because they also let Lucio go in 2009. With injuries I remember Tymoschuk eventually ending up as a CB and it looked laughable. But then again Badstuber looked like a prospect for CB with Alaba as a new LB option, so it wasn't that weird.

Bigger problem than the transfers in his 2nd season was the aftermath of World Cup 2010. The dramatic Robben injury that still remains a mystery today. Captain Van Bommel lost 30% of his skills and was on his last leggs, he had a fall out with Van Gaal and moved in the winter, he was replaced with Luis Gustavo. New players like Müller who just had their first full season and a World Cup after that. Together with Van Gaals general behaviour (he had some insane ego-trips in his time in Germany), that's the reason he was fired eventually.

Also in general, go and look at the 'Van Gaal's all time XI'. You can make 4 or 5 full squads with the best players imaginable,it's unbelievable how many superstars he's worked with. Go and read a little bit about his transfers at Ajax, or look at some of his AZ players (Dembele, Sergio Romero, Moreno, Moisander, Graziano Pelle). There's nothing to worry about, unless you are a drama queen.
 
Henrik Larsson said:
Strange assesment. Robben is a Van Gaal signing. In every transfer there is a board involved, Bayern were a big club and the fact that he didn't want to go to Italy and had already played in England and Spain also played a part in the transfer. But I've literally heard Robben say that the fact that he personally knew van Gaal and had worked with him before (In Argentina, at the World Cup -21 in 2001) was vital for him coming to Bayern. But obviously Van Gaal didn't want him, because he didn't already know how good Robben was and he had loads of other world class options for the right wing.
Click to expand...
I never said that van Gaal didn't want Robben, where did you get that from? I said he wasn't really his signing in the first place, which seems a fair statement to me. Van Gaal wasn't asking for a new player at all, but the board felt we were lightweight and needed strengthening after the first few games and when it became apparent that Robben is available, the board suggested him. I also wrote that van Gaal helped make the deal happen, obviously the Dutch connection was really helpful here, van Bommel was also involved.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Remember who we were linked with under Moyes? On that basis, Moyes > Van Gaal.
Click to expand...

What we brought in under van Gaal still made more sense than under Moyes and it actually happened. With Moyes it seemed to be a lot of scouting and indecision. The same applies to selling/loaning the players that aren't good enough anymore.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Well that's the real worry here, isn't it? That Van Gaal isn't an expert in the transfer market, so is letting Woody act as unofffical DoF.

If that's really happening the whole project is doomed from the start. At tremendous financial cost.
Click to expand...

Well, of course van Gaal still have last word here, but I'm pretty sure that only Blind was a player who was signed only because van Gaal wanted him.The rest were more or less occasions he gave green light.

On a positive note - there's no chance of us signing any more Bebe's - he will never accept such player.

Though he also should've declined Falcao if he didn't know if he really wants him. At first he gives him very little chance, then suddenly Falcao plays nearly every minute over the Christmas period and again drop him without a reason.

The others were all good transfers even if "poor Di Maria" is like "poor Nani", "good Di Maria" is world class player, a bit better than "good Nani".
 
VanGaalEra said:
Robben was his signing.
Click to expand...

Of course he was very eager to sign Robben, but still it wasn't his transfer. It was an occasion, player whom every team in the world would welcome with open arms. Just like Di Maria last summer. Bayern also wanted to sign Robben before, when van Gaal wasn't their manager.

And last, but not least, Balu - our most famous Bayern supporter, shares my view.
 
bucky said:
What we brought in under van Gaal still made more sense than under Moyes and it actually happened. With Moyes it seemed to be a lot of scouting and indecision. The same applies to selling/loaning the players that aren't good enough anymore.
Click to expand...

I remember reading something like that Moyes was "interested" in every good player and was seen on many stadiums just because he wanted to please supporters. :lol:
 
System vs players?
Some system's work with almost all players but some system's arent ment to be played at all. Sadly for us 3-5-2 is easy to defend and neutralize but hard to break down.. But with us in gift mode at the back we need to score first at home or teams will gladly sit back and wait for 90 min.. I think LVG hasn't used any of our new signings in their preferred positions.

Shaw doesn't have a clue how to play lwb, Herrera isn't played at all or just as a sub and our record signing is all over the place most of the time.. We showed glimpses with that 4-3-3 or 4-4-1-1 diamond and our new signings looked really good.. But we need to give these guys a chance and our manager time to build a team and a squad for the future and I believe all of these guys are a big part of that future..
 
Balu said:
He never seemed particularly interested in transfers unless he knew the players from before. Most of the players he really wanted were weak and/or bad fits and it didn't look like he had a real plan how to use them. He really seems to struggle to judge players before they trained and played under him for several months, which makes big transfers basically a huge gamble and it shows in his highly questionable transfer record. Robben is the only player we signed during van Gaal's time as Bayern manager who was still at the club 3 years after van Gaal left and Robben was pushed on him by the board because we panicked after a shockingly bad start. Van Gaal helped to make the deal happen in the end, but Robben wasn't really his signing in the first place.

It was just as bad if not worse during his time at Barca, where he just bought one Dutch player after the next one and alienated the fans with his signings, who mostly sucked when playing for the team.
Click to expand...

Mmm. It kind of makes sense of the United situation especially with Di Maria; he really doesn't seem to know where to play him nor Herrera for that matter.
 
Physiocrat said:
Mmm. It kind of makes sense of the United situation especially with Di Maria; he really doesn't seem to know where to play him nor Herrera for that matter.
Click to expand...
Although he sort of did at the start of the season and recently as well barring the last few games.
 
Herrera is the player im a bit concerned with, he is not the box-to-box player that LvG wants in his midfield. He could be the playmaker, but if the idea is to play Di Maria there he won't have a chance other than being a backup.
I hope we haven't bought Herrera on false hopes because he is a great lad and i want the best for him really!
 
I remember people dismissing a similar thread during the summer.
There were quite a few "who cares?" and "does it matter?" comments.

Sure matters now, doesn't it?
 
KingMinger22 said:
All three will prove to be great signings.
Click to expand...
So do I. I think we let that many players outstay their welcome, only half the players needed were signed in the summer. If we aren't going to get anyone in January, it is going to take another summer to get things completely right. The players on loan will be gone and some of our defenders along with them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.