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.
Just have to say, it's one of the first times in regards to team selections I've been able to say he went for what the fans wanted rather than what he usually does (Not saying it was influenced by the fans), one holding midfielder and a lot more emphasis on attacking, despite not even needing to. That's Manchester United. His decision to bring Schwein on for Januzaj was brilliant too as was starting Herrera, who should have maybe been given 10 mins longer on the pitch as he started to finally calm down a bit.
Hernandez was disappointing, I don't buy into this don't want to be here stuff, you never know what's going on, he hasn't played many minutes and his game sharpness will be well down, I'd like to see him do a few in the reserves maybe and use Wilson as a sub while Rooney may have an injection of confidence.
Really good choices all round I thought, irrespective of score, great performance Louis!
Hernandez was disappointing, I don't buy into this don't want to be here stuff, you never know what's going on, he hasn't played many minutes and his game sharpness will be well down, I'd like to see him do a few in the reserves maybe and use Wilson as a sub while Rooney may have an injection of confidence.
Really good choices all round I thought, irrespective of score, great performance Louis!
I will take your words seriously the day Man City go beyond round of 16 in UCL while playing this your entertaining football.
Maybe am the odd one out but I find the way we play now entertaining. Once, the attack gets more rhythm, we will be a joy to watch. The last few years of Fergie was painful for me watching average teams play us off the pack in midfield(One that stuck was the first time we played Pochettino's Southampton at OT) it was like playing Barca or teams cutting through us as if we weren't there. We were hapless against Bilbao in Europa league and looked like some fading force, I don't enjoy games like that.
I want teams to spend weeks trying to figure out how to break us down.
I want teams to spend weeks trying to figure out how to break us down.
Hopefullly we see more of last nights selection against the weaker teams. Save the double pivot for bigger games or tough aways.
Not a bad turnaround for LvG 12 months on though. Thrashed by MK Dons to qualifying 7-1 on agg for the Champions League.
Not a bad turnaround for LvG 12 months on though. Thrashed by MK Dons to qualifying 7-1 on agg for the Champions League.
I think we'll still use it against Swansea on the weekend. They rolled us twice and I think where he can be, he will be extremely cautious.
Yeah, no.
He mentioned in the post-match interview how we dropped 6 points to them last season so wouldn't be surprised to see Schneiderlin come back in for Herrera. But I'd rather Herrera moves forward and Januzaj drops to the bench. Not that I don't like seeing Adnan get a chance, just want to see Ander play more often.
Yeah, I am not sure he's going to go for that mind. I think we'll see an identical team that started the campaign with Fellaini coming on late in the game. Swansea are a good side and regardless of the track record they are in excellent form. I think it will be another litmus test for Blind and Smalling. The extra protection Schneiderlin offers will be invaluable.
Schneiderlin will be back vs Swansea, it was obvious how much we missed him in the 1st half yesterday but I hope Herrera will start instead of Adnan.
True. They will give us a good test all over the pitch (Montero v Darmian will be interesting) but especially at CB. Gomis, Ayew and Sigurdsson will be a handful at the Liberty. Monk is proving to be a shrewd manager as well.
On the flip side, we must be a nightmare to prepare against. So many options in midfield now.
We are better equipped to face them now with the options we have and the defence being in really good shape. I'd hope LVG starts with Herrera ahead of the 2 midfielders and tries to build something there. Januzaj has started 4 games now, and he's not really shown enough for me.
Yep. 4231 midfield of:
Carrick/BS -- Schneiderlin
Mata---Herrera---Memphis
First real test of the season. Lose and it'll be hell in here. Imagine we come away with a comfortable 3-0 win though... Would really set the tone for the season heading into the international break.
I agree with this - I really don't think Januzaj has progressed after his first season - I think a loan spell for him is needed because I can't see him making enough of a contribution for us this year. Last night was his chance - in his home country, against relatively weak opposition and what happens - pulled off at HT.
I think we can compare talk about league performances without taking into account CL matches.
The dutch team on paper was weak, he wasn't even expected to get out of his group yet he went on to become the first dutch coach to not get beaten in normal play at a world cup, finishing third was a brilliant achievement for the netherlands in 2014.
You also use the term 'lucky' to describe him, lucky louis that's what everyone keeps saying, well when a man is so meticulous in his preparation as Louis van Gaal then it's no surprise his teams can win even without performing well.
And that Brazil game wasn't exactly a friendly, they had been humiliated in the previous match in their home country, surely they wanted to bounce back with a win.
I was referring more to the style of play which we have seen since he took over. Last night was a step forward, but against weak opposition. Let's see how the next few league games go. What I was arguing against is the style of play which has been very un-United since he joined. I am not a fan of results orientated football as much as some others, though obviously I can see the benefits. I want to see a marriage between exciting football (the United way) and results driven tactics. Until now, I haven't really seen it and that's something I'd like to see.
Basically you just want more goals. The difference between the Brugge game and Newcastle was our strikers finished the chances they got. Same amount of chance created, same amount of shots on target.
Not necessarily, no. I want more free flowing attacking football. LVG plays a almost a mix of Pep and Mourinho - solid defensively but pass, pass, pass, waiting for the perfect hole to open up. I don't really see too much freedom to take players on. I guess I have been spoilt by the likes of Kanchelskis, Giggs, Sharpe etc as we have traditionally employed wingers, but don't really anymore. I'd be happy to win 1-0 if I saw plenty of good free flowing football that produced chances. I take your point about last night seeing more chances taken - they were much better chances I felt though, which might show we are going in the right direction, but I maintain that Brugge were very weak and whether this brand of football will see such clear cut chances created against better PL teams remains to be seen.
With the netherlands the style of play was the only way he would finish third. Obviously we need to give the manager time to work on the final third, he also stated prior to the Brugge match we need to improve in possession of the ball.
Ferguson was results driven also when he had to be, it's better to be results driven and not exciting than exciting and not results driven, hopefully as the season kicks on that exciting results driven football will come and at least we have enough points on the board so we can challenge unlike Arsenal last year who did brilliantly in the end but dropped too many points early on.
If our attack gels then we see it, if it doesn't then we don't, I personally think we could do with another attacker like Aguero, Hazard or Sanchez, if we aren't effective in the final third then i'm not sure how we can play results driven football that is exciting. I like how it's a young team because the future is now secure however it also means young players will make inevitable mistakes and be inconsistent.
Don't think people are giving him enough credit this season.
- Has brought in five new players, none of which needed crazy money, who all look like great buys ready to make an instant impact.
- Has managed to put them all into the first team and still have us playing like a team.
- His much mocked decision to start Blind in defense has actually worked.
- Has managed to come up with a back four that, despite never playing together before the first game, actually looks like the best we've had in ages.
- Showed he is willing to be less stubborn compared to last season by quickly dropping Young and moving Depay out wide when the number 10 experiment failed. Hopefully we'll see more of Herrera played at number 10 as well after last night.
- His substitutions have also been far less strange compared to last season.
- Well managed preseason seems to have curbed our injuries.
Only negatives for me at the moment are we're a player short in attack and will still be a bit fecked if our back line start getting injured.
- Has brought in five new players, none of which needed crazy money, who all look like great buys ready to make an instant impact.
- Has managed to put them all into the first team and still have us playing like a team.
- His much mocked decision to start Blind in defense has actually worked.
- Has managed to come up with a back four that, despite never playing together before the first game, actually looks like the best we've had in ages.
- Showed he is willing to be less stubborn compared to last season by quickly dropping Young and moving Depay out wide when the number 10 experiment failed. Hopefully we'll see more of Herrera played at number 10 as well after last night.
- His substitutions have also been far less strange compared to last season.
- Well managed preseason seems to have curbed our injuries.
Only negatives for me at the moment are we're a player short in attack and will still be a bit fecked if our back line start getting injured.
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Swansea away aren't to be messed with. They did the double on us last year, arsenal to.
I would happily see him go defensive, it was the newcastle game where he should of gone all out.
Perfect and fair summary there.
Who in our line up would take players on for fun but doesn't because he doesn't have freedom?
People love to say this lack of freedom line without naming players.
He has also agreed that Herrera is a better number 10. I have been way too critical and frustrated with the way he went around doing things. But i am very happy to hear that he was going to remove Herrera but saw that he was improving and then continued him and pushed him at no 10. He is the manager but i think he slowly is understanding that he can't be right all the time.
Good point. After the Spurs game, lots of people were saying that Shaw's attacking game has been neutered. 4 games later, I can see Shaw running all over the pitch at will.
If he starts this team
Romero
Darmien Smalling Blind Shaw
Morgan Carrick
Mata Herrera Depay
Rooney
VG may have found his strongest team, with Bastian and Carrick battling for that DM spot. We have the solid foundation, it just needs that one change herrera for Janazaj I think he has the balance spot on. VG clearly must see Janazaj has failed at the no10 job, time to give herrera his chance now
Romero
Darmien Smalling Blind Shaw
Morgan Carrick
Mata Herrera Depay
Rooney
VG may have found his strongest team, with Bastian and Carrick battling for that DM spot. We have the solid foundation, it just needs that one change herrera for Janazaj I think he has the balance spot on. VG clearly must see Janazaj has failed at the no10 job, time to give herrera his chance now
Totally off topic, but does anyone know where I can get the jacket him and Giggs had on yesterday?
Call me sad, but I really quite liked it!
Call me sad, but I really quite liked it!
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...ws/manchester-united-herrera-van-gaal-9940576
The title is editorialized, but if LVG seriously expected Herrera to be in top form after being benched for so long, he's clueless. His obsession with not giving the ball away is worrying. Don't give it away in a bad position, but if you lose it trying to make something happen, it's not the end of the world.
Possession football for the sake of it is awful.
The title is editorialized, but if LVG seriously expected Herrera to be in top form after being benched for so long, he's clueless. His obsession with not giving the ball away is worrying. Don't give it away in a bad position, but if you lose it trying to make something happen, it's not the end of the world.
Possession football for the sake of it is awful.
That's beside the point. Herrere is an intelligent player, but he makes a lot of the wrong decisions. Sometimes he's not in the right position to make something happen, and he should play it to someone who is or get in such a position to recieve the ball there.
He is just telling you how he felt after Herrera's bad start, nothing else
Yeah, nicely summed up. The injury situation is massive though. Feels like we're one or two injuries away from disaster again. The GK situation is also a worry but overall I'm very happy with Louis so far.
I told you so.
Not impressed.
And I am getting that same feeling that I had with Moyes.
And I am getting that same feeling that I had with Moyes.
If Romero is our number one LvG should be sacked. Absolute liability.
I don't buy into it, Louis.
We may very well be in the wilderness like Liverpool for the next few years. Stop all these stupid spending. Invest in the academy and get a group together who grew up here and can muster the passion for games like against Swansea where you could see many did not give a feck. This game needed a Keano.
We can blame this on Rooney as much as we want but it's the manager's choice if he wants to sign a striker or a goalkeeper for that matter and van Gaal has decided so far not to sign anyone. If we wanted a proper striker that can really test defenders he could have gone for Griezmann anytime he wanted but he didn't. This is absolutely bang out of order.
A year and £250m further on. Improvement = nil.