I keep sticking up for him and saying to people that I think he's improving the players technically and instilling football intelligence.
But then I watch Darmian today and add him to the list of players who looked good at the beginning, but have steadily declined under Van Gaal and it's getting harder and harder to justify.
Darmian
Memphis
Martial
Rooney
Carrick
Van Persie
Di Maria
Mata
Schneiderlin
Schweinsteiger
Januzaj
Wilson
Pereira
Hernandez
... were all better players before they got here or when they first began playing under him. His record is excellent and I still want to believe it will click, but how long does he get before we need to start seeing some signs of consistent progress? How many players do we write off as shite and see them move on before we start asking if they really can all be the problem?
Bear in mind that the standard of the league is miles beneath what it was here 5-10 years ago and the standards being set elsewhere in Europe now, and that every time our backs are against the wall, we have to revert to that awful, negative formation.