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Manchester United under Louis van Gaal have made an impressive start to the 2015/16 season, winning two of their opening matches and drawing a third without conceding a single goal. And they also sailed past the Champions League playoff clash against Club Brugge with a dominating 7-1 aggregate.
But the club suffered a shocking defeat to Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on matchday 4 and the match had a significant mark on Van Gaal’s time as United boss. Not because he has suffered his first defeat of the season, but also because he has now been in charge for 50 games in the Old Trafford hot seat.
So, does this mean it’s now fair to judge the Dutch coach? Remember how the verdict was delivered to the Scotsman David Moyes when he had reached a half-century of matches?
Comparing between Van Gaal and David Moyes
Ever since his arrival at Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal has been nothing but ruthless. He has shown ruthlessness in the transfer market and also in clearing out the deadwood which Moyes failed to do during his time with United. Van Gaal has asserted his authority at the club while Moyes paid his faith on the existing players – inheriting Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-winning side which turned out to prove costly in the end for the former manager.
But when looking at the stats after 50 games, both managers have the same number of wins (27) while Van Gaal has drawn more games.
| Manager | Games | Wins | Loss | Draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Moyes | 50 | 27 | 14 | 9 |
| Louis Van Gaal | 50 | 27 | 11 | 12 |
Money spent on transfers by Van Gaal and Moyes
When Van Gaal arrived, he ensured that he was to be handed enough funds by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to revamp his squad. Since he took over, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has spent more than £200 million over the past four transfer windows and it looks highly unlikely to stop anytime soon.
There are still certain areas within the squad that need to be fixed sooner rather than later. Former United Manager, David Moyes had similar familiar funds at his disposal but failed to get tough with Woodward and his uncertainty in making a clear decision on targets led to two disastrous transfer windows in summer and January.
Ever since the Dutchman has been in charge at Old Trafford, he has not hesitated to clear out the “flops” and this has seen the departure of many senior players from the Manchester United squad.
| Manager | Money spent | Players signed |
|---|---|---|
| David Moyes | £64.6m | Marouane Fellaini, Juan Mata |
| Louis Van Gaal | £240 m | Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Angel Di Maria, Radamel Falcao (loan), Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind, Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Sergio Romero, Anthony Martial |
While Moyes failed to get Manchester United into the top four and finished seventh, Van Gaal succeeded in qualifying for the Champions League in his first season. So was it fair to sack Moyes?
