United linked with van Gaal in the meeja

Status
Not open for further replies.
Great short term option, leads us into the area of other top managers contracts being out. Potentially in 2-3 years we will have the pick from Guardiola, Jose and Klopp who are all specialists in taking over sides that have an excellent discipline and philosophy.

I certainly will be keeping tabs on Holland during the WC now.

At least we won't be worrying about him getting injured.
 
ugly fecker though isn't he......what cartoon character is he like?

van-gaal.jpg
Butthead from Bevis and Butthead
 
I'm sorry but you're letting what happened with Sir Alex cloud your judgement. It was a very rare occurrence and unlikely to be repeated. We'l be lucky if we have managerial reigns for 5yrs or more, just the way things are.

"Lucky" doesnt come close eh. I know what you're saying, but why does it have to be like that. Giggs and the class of '92 are also unlikely, but it doesnt stop me praying we'll see the like again. We can dream
 
:D

I'm not criticising, I'm just highlighting the preposterous assumption on Lance's part (he was "delighted" we may now have a manager who's won something before) that it's automatically accepted we'll be successful again in the future. Why a United fan is proud that van Gaal's Barcelona/Ajax etc. won something is slightly confusing, but I digress.

Of course it helps, yes, but it's not a guarantee.

If all managerial appointments were made solely on managers that have won things, Rodgers wouldn't have got the Liverpool gig, for example.

No-one has stated that all managerial appointments should be based on what managers have won. Of course he'd be delighted, because a manager who has won something is showing credentials when we are considering our options. Factor in the other things too and he becomes a very attractive outlook. How is this a bad thing?

Why are we concerned about Rodgers?
 
"Lucky" doesnt come close eh. I know what you're saying, but why does it have to be like that. Giggs and the class of '92 are also unlikely, but it doesnt stop me praying we'll see the like again. We can dream

Yeah we can but I just dont see another Sir Alex. His desire to keep winning the same thing over and over again, to keep rebuilding was unique imo.
 
I'm unsure regarding signings, according to some posters he is quite similar to Ferguson in the transfer market, an anti-muppet.

That was only recently. Lets not forget buying the likes of Cole, Yorke, Ruud, Rio, Veron, Berbatov etc. for what were large amounts of money at the time. Van Gaal doesn't seem to be like that at all. He's usually not had complete control over transfers as well.
 
Don't forget Kroos!! :nono:

Kroos is no van Gaal player. He came to the Bayern professionals when Hitzfeld still was coach, Klinsmann then loaned him to Leverkusen, then he had two years at Leverkusen with Heynckes - came back in 2010/11 in van Gaal's second year.

Kroos did not go the same path Müller and Badstuber went.
But they played together in the U19 in 2006/07

Aufsteiger-Augsburg-Sebastian-Langkamp-kehrt-zurueck-in-die-Fussball-Bundesliga1_image_630_420f_wn.jpg


From left standing - Kroos, Kopplin, Badstuber, Müller
 
Last edited:
I haven't noticed you at all, I'm sorry.

Like I said, I've seen you post a few times on here. Not that I have replied to you, or you to me. I have read some of your posts in fierce defence of Moyes.

If you noticed me reading without actually replying then I would be very worried...
 
Kroos is no van Gaal player. He came to the Bayern professionals when Hitzfeld still was coach, Klinsmann then loaned him to Leverkusen, then he had two years at Leverkusen with Heynckes - came back in 2010/11 in van Gaal's second year.

He wasn't used as a CM though until Van Gaal took hold of him no?
 
Can you imagine what LvG is going to think when he comes here and see that Ashley Young plays for us so regularly and watches some clips of how he's been playing for us this season. He will snap him in half like a twiglet on his very first day in Carrington.
 
It's worth noting that in that FIFA interview van Gaal admits to promoting Alaba, Badstuber, and Müller as they were recommended to him by his assistant manager, who had been at Bayern previous to his appointment. I think we could see Giggs used in a similar fashion, should van Gaal get the job.
 
Who will be the captain next season?

With van Gaal it could be Robin.
 
He wasn't used as a CM though until Van Gaal took hold of him no?

Van Gaal tried to implement him into the system - but I guess he had some problems with it. But he always was playing. For van Gaal's no. 10 or hanging striker position Kroos was not dynamic enough - he even played Schweinsteiger there and played Kroos as a D6 when Robben was injured and Müller took over the wing. When Robben came back he shifted Müller back to his position and Schweinsteiger and Kroos played together in central midfield. That might have been a problem, too - Kroos lacked the defensive sense then and Schweinsteiger might work fine with a partner that is a mixture between 8 and 6 like he can play it - but not defensive enough to hold a midfield with a player without a sense for the defense like Kroos was at this time.

Jonker only used Kroos as a substitute when he took over.
 
It's worth noting that in that FIFA interview van Gaal admits to promoting Alaba, Badstuber, and Müller as they were recommended to him by his assistant manager, who had been at Bayern previous to his appointment. I think we could see Giggs used in a similar fashion, should van Gaal get the job.
I liked that bit as well, he said he always keeps one person from the previous regime who knows the club and is open to their input, which would seem to set the stage quite nicely for Giggs to continue in his role.
 
I liked that bit as well, he said he always keeps one person from the previous regime who knows the club and is open to their input, which would seem to set the stage quite nicely for Giggs to continue in his role.
Or Phil Neville. :drool:
 
Considering the merits Van Gaal looks for in his players, I can honestly see Rooney having a deeper role for the foreseeable future, theres no way LVG would drop RVP and have Rooney not do a job in CM which we all know he could do and I believe a rift would ensue.

The only way around this is if we sign some top class players which LVG has a history of bemoaning often citing players as not being "his signings".

Having said that, he has a history also of making those kinds of decisions work.

I want to know two things.

1. What do Spurs fans think of this and what their opinion was when he was touted to go there.

2. What happened during that ill fated spell for Barca, what made him utterly destroy that team?
 
Who will be the captain next season?

With van Gaal it could be Robin.

That's quite possible actually, particularly if Evra leaves. He mentions in that interview about how he needs his captain to be 100% professional; not sure he'll be too impressed by Rooney.
 
Last edited:
Considering the merits Van Gaal looks for in his players, I can honestly see Rooney having a deeper role for the foreseeable future, theres no way LVG would drop RVP and have Rooney not do a job in CM which we all know he could do and I believe a rift would ensue.

The only way around this is if we sign some top class players which LVG has a history of bemoaning often citing players as not being "his signings".

Having said that, he has a history also of making those kinds of decisions work.

I want to know two things.

1. What do Spurs fans think of this and what their opinion was when he was touted to go there.

2. What happened during that ill fated spell for Barca, what made him utterly destroy that team?

Spurs fans were quite excited, I had been checking their forums earlier today, they'd gone full muppet on LVG since christmas and now thoroughly pissed off at losing out on him, blaming Levy for not tying it up before our Dave lost his job.

2nd question I'm a little more uncertain of but my memory is telling me at the time were going through a transition after Van Gaals 1st period at the club, they employed a few duds, did crap and got rid of, typical failing period for a club, when someone had a brainfart " i know, we'll just get back our last manager who was successful!" so they hired back lvG but didn't give him very long in his 2nd spell, before giving up on him as well.
 
Barca is so long ago.

But he got some merit for his time there...

http://www.totalbarca.com/2012/news/the-louis-van-gaal-dream-fulfilled/

Barca had an academy - but before van Gaal they did not really use it. The same you can say about Bayern until he came in. Until then it was not different to the other big clubs.
Im just reading through this fascinating article, thanks for posting it. I dont see how anyone could read through that and not only think that Van Gaal to United would not only be incredible for United but also for the national squad.

We have a manager here who has blooded so many young players that are now international main stays for Holland and Germany. But once you read what he did for Barcelona you begin to appreciate how much he has done for the Spanish game and most importantly the international side.

He is arguably responsible for the best club side in recent history in BOTH Barcelona and Bayern but he also had a huge hand in moulding the international sides considered the best in the world Spain, Holland and of course Germany.

Amazing stuff, Louis Van Gaal firmly IN.
 
Yeah we can but I just dont see another Sir Alex. His desire to keep winning the same thing over and over again, to keep rebuilding was unique imo.

You could well be right. I'm not expecting another 25 yrs of one man at the helm. But slightly longer than 9 months would be nice

Does the club change its attitude to plan for regular changes in management, while giving the youth policy to a longer term understudy? Maybe thats the modern way. Maybe I have to get used to that, but I dont have to like it
 
You could well be right. I'm not expecting another 25 yrs of one man at the helm. But slightly longer than 9 months would be nice

Does the club change its attitude to plan for regular changes in management, while giving the youth policy to a longer term understudy? Maybe thats the modern way. Maybe I have to get used to that, but I dont have to like it

A caftard made this point a few days ago and I think its very apt.

You don't sign a manager to be a long term appointment, it happens naturally. If a manager is successful then they'll have a longer reign at the club, that's why the likes of Ferguson, Wenger, Klopp stay for a long time at their respective clubs.

If Van Gaal is our next manager then he might not be at the club for 5 years, but he'll certainly keep the youth system going and keep us competitive and get us back in the CL. He'll calm everyone down, get them refocussed and begin a new era at the club. I feel we're in safe hands if he did come, just like I'd feel we were in safe hands if Mourinho came last summer. Neither might be long term appointments, but that might not be what the club need at this point in time. What we need is someone to come in and show everyone there's success after Sir Alex. That was my view in the Summer and my view now. No risky appointments, keep it logical and go for a man with a long successful CV.
 
You could well be right. I'm not expecting another 25 yrs of one man at the helm. But slightly longer than 9 months would be nice

Does the club change its attitude to plan for regular changes in management, while giving the youth policy to a longer term understudy? Maybe thats the modern way. Maybe I have to get used to that, but I dont have to like it

If the club expects manager to change very frequently, yes, transfers and management of youth given to someone else would make sense to protect the club from short term measures. A club doesnt plan for a short reign though, if a manager is successful and wants to stay, why get rid?
 
If the club expects manager to change very frequently, yes, transfers and management of youth given to someone else would make sense to protect the club from short term measures. A club doesnt plan for a short reign though, if a manager is successful and wants to stay, why get rid?

There are plenty of managers who do really well for several seasons, then get sacked for a poor 6 months
 
The priority should be someone who can spend the money wisely and get us back on track the fastest not "who might still be here in 6 years time".

Therefore I'd rule out anyone who has only managed at one club at the top level and rule out, for now, limited budget experience. They're all qualities to look for in the appointment after this but IMO these needs are rather more urgent than a manager who may need a period of bedding down. This is why van Gaal or Mourinho are ideal (regardless of their availability) as they've a track record of walking into big clubs and making it work almost straight away
 
Considering the merits Van Gaal looks for in his players, I can honestly see Rooney having a deeper role for the foreseeable future, theres no way LVG would drop RVP and have Rooney not do a job in CM which we all know he could do and I believe a rift would ensue.

The only way around this is if we sign some top class players which LVG has a history of bemoaning often citing players as not being "his signings".

Having said that, he has a history also of making those kinds of decisions work.

I want to know two things.

1. What do Spurs fans think of this and what their opinion was when he was touted to go there.

2. What happened during that ill fated spell for Barca, what made him utterly destroy that team?

A few things happened at barcelona. First of all his relationship with Stoichkov and Rivaldo completely broke down and both absolutely hate him, however they are both widely reported to be absolute cnuts.

The whole of the country basically turned against him though as he started to sign a lot of Dutch players and stopped focusing on having a Catalan core. Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Valdes and Reina were all brought up to the first team by him though and most still speak very highly of him.

He seems to get on really well with 'model professional' types, but he really doesn't have any time for players who aren't willing to sacrifice their own individuality for the sake of the team, that was the problem with Rivaldo. In Gaal's own words 'he doesn't want to play for the team, he wants to play for himself'.

As it often is with barcelona, he got sacked because of politics, Cryuff didn't like him (probably because he didn't suckle the blokes dick like he wants) and even politicians got arsey when it came to his signings. Joke of a club
 
Exactly. Politics did for him at Barca and Bayern, but (hopefully) shouldnt be too much of a problem with us. We also dont have too many individuals who play for themselves rather than the team. Given the mood around the club at the moment I think the players will be receptive to Van Gaal to be honest.
 
Im just reading through this fascinating article, thanks for posting it. I dont see how anyone could read through that and not only think that Van Gaal to United would not only be incredible for United but also for the national squad.

We have a manager here who has blooded so many young players that are now international main stays for Holland and Germany. But once you read what he did for Barcelona you begin to appreciate how much he has done for the Spanish game and most importantly the international side.

He is arguably responsible for the best club side in recent history in BOTH Barcelona and Bayern but he also had a huge hand in moulding the international sides considered the best in the world Spain, Holland and of course Germany.

Amazing stuff, Louis Van Gaal firmly IN.

Apart from implementing a system I especially remark that he has the hand for the odd player. Xavi, Iniesta would be players that probably would have made it without him - maybe not that fast. A Puyol would not. But Puyol makes the difference between a Spanish side that always played a great style of football - and actually winning things. He for a long time was their leader and brought that mentality with him. Müller is a different story - with him you might have to see his year at the U23. I do not think FC Bayern valued him that much - but then they recognized that other clubs - especially Hoffenheim with Ralf Rangnick (Hoffenheim in 2008/09 was on rank 1 after half-time) - were really keen on getting him. Bayern did not say no but asked a price for him that was unusually high at this time for a U23-player without Bundesliga experience - to high for Hoffenheim - but gave Müller his first professional contract - even if he got it as striker no. 5 as they already had Luca Toni, Klose and had bought Gomez and gotten Olic who came without transfer sum.

Müller with other coaches probably would have made it - he is an ideal for the Stuttgart system that especially coaches like Rangnick or Tuchel play - but he would not have made it at any other coach at Bayern.

But if you get van Gaal you might be in for a surprise. If you take the Müller story as comparison. What would you think if a coach would let Rooney and van Persie warm the bench and play a new 19-year-old instead...

That is what van Gaal did. Just that it was not only 2 but 3 - World Cup Winner Luca Toni, World Cup golden boot winner Klose and the new German record transfer Gomez. And Müller and free Olic were the starters. (As it was the hanging striker or no. 10 position there were others from midfield that could have played the position, too) - you have maybe to add that Müller paid back very soon and the others did not perform great when they had the chance. (But maybe mentality is the difference between having a good career and having a top one)

After two or three months he even gave Müller something like a starting guarantee. With me Müller will always play.

I just tell you that to show you how nuts this guy is - or that he really has the nuts... But at the end of the year he was right. Bayern won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and was in the CL final - and Müller was the team's top scorer (so Robben and Olic scored the more important goals) and did his show at the World Cup.
 
Last edited:
If he's coming here he needs to agree to spend money on midfield or we shouldn't go for it. Bringing the best out of players through coaching is admirable but I couldn't take another year of this midfield.

If we could bring in a couple of midfielders and start trying to play attacking football again I'd be happy with that. Klopps the dream though...
 
Apart from implementing a system I especially remark that he has the hand for the odd player. Xavi, Iniesta would be players that probably would have made it without him - maybe not that fast. A Puyol would not. But Puyol makes the difference between a Spanish side that always played a great style of football - and actually winning things. He for a long time was their leader and brought that mentality with him. Müller is a different story - with him you might have to see his year at the U23. I do not think FC Bayern valued him that much - but then they recognized that other clubs - especially Hoffenheim with Ralf Rangnick (Hoffenheim in 2008/09 was on rank 1 after half-time) - were really keen on getting him. Bayern did not say no but asked a price for him that was unusually high at this time for a U23-player without Bundesliga experience - to high for Hoffenheim - but gave Müller his first professional contract - even if he got it as striker no. 5 as they already had Luca Toni, Klose and had bought Gomez and gotten Olic who came without transfer sum.

Müller with other coaches probably would have made it - he is an ideal for the Stuttgart system that especially coaches like Rangnick or Tuchel play - but he would not have made it at any other coach at Bayern.

But if you get van Gaal you might be in for a surprise. If you take the Müller story as comparison. What would you think if a coach would let Rooney and van Persie warm the bench and play a new 19-year-old instead...

That is what van Gaal did. Just that it was not only 2 but 3 - World Cup Winner Luca Toni, World Cup golden boot winner Klose and the new German record transfer Gomez. And Müller and free Olic were the starters. (As it was the hanging striker or no. 10 position there were others from midfield that could have played the position, too)

After two or three months he even gave Müller something like a starting guarantee. With me Müller will always play.

I just tell you that to show you how nuts this guy is - or that he really has the nuts... But at the end of the year he was right. Bayern won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and was in the CL final - and Müller was the team's top scorer (so Robben and Olic scored the more important goals) and did his show at the World Cup.

That would be ace. And if Van Gaal does it he doesn't do that for some retarded decision (like Zeaman with Gogochea) but he does that because he sees something on that player. I've heard an interview with him when he said that the age doesn't matter to him, he picks the squad based on how good the players are performing.

Considering how fall behind other big teams are at the moment, United would really benefit from him. Even if things inevitably goes wrong after 2-3 seasons, he'll still leave a terrific infrastructure for the next manager to shine.
 
Exactly. Politics did for him at Barca and Bayern.

Underperformance did him for Barca, let's not pretend that he has a perfect record. He was sacked after half a season with Barcelona in 12th position and three points off the relegation zone.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.