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It is safe to say that things are not going well for Manchester United, despite the amount of money spent in the summer.They may have certainly been looking good attack wise, but the results don’t do justice for the money that was spent for this project. While Louis van Gaal was widely tipped to get rid of the malaise that seems to have seeped into the team, it looks like he’s been a worse manager than David Moyes, at least at this stage.MOYES & VAN GAAL COMPARISON AFTER 5 MATCHES WINSDRAWSLOSTGFGAPOINTSOPPONENTSDavid Moyes212767Swansea, Chelsea, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Manchester CityLouis van Gaal122985Swansea, Sunderland, Burnley, QPR, LeicesterHere are a few reasons that could explain why this notion is not as stupid as it sounds.
#1 Results
Let’s get the elephant out the room straight away – the results have been shocking to say the least. And yes, they have been worse than what David Moyes achieved from a far inferior side this time last year.
They brought in all the players, for all this big money, and yet they continue to lose to teams like MK Dons and Leicester City – teams which, with all due respect, a club like Manchester United should be getting past with ease. They got knocked out of the League Cup in the 2nd round, dropped a 2 goal lead to go on and lose the game for the first time in the Premier League, and have set God knows how many other unwanted records this year.
This is United’s worst start to a league season in the EPL, and that’s not under David Moyes, but under the fabled Van Gaal. And it isn’t exactly the toughest opposition that they have had to face either! When you spend so much on your team, you are expected to deliver results.
And this is poor form, irrespective of all the arguments that Van Gaal is a slow starter. Manchester United cannot afford a slow start; not any more.
#2 Transfers
For all the flak that David Moyes received throughout his time at Manchester United, he did not get the backing of the board to spend the kind of money that is now afforded to Van Gaal. Instead, all he could get was a late signing of Marouane Fellaini and a Juan Mata in January, by which time things had gone sour already. He had to deal with the shambles left behind by Fergie, and as well as he did at Everton, he definitely isn’t in the same league as his more celebrated countryman.
Louis van Gaal has no such excuses. The money has been spent, his list has been checked off, and it is now his cross to bear in terms of the results the team produces. An almost unprecedented spending spree in recent times from a club that has always prided itself in bringing through youngsters from the academy has had the exact opposite of what it was meant to bring to the club.
After spending £150 million in one window and bringing in stars like Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao into your team, you expect to decimate your opponents. But apart from the win against QPR, they have nothing to show at all.
Imagine how much better the results would be for Moyes if he were able to get in such stars during his time at the club. Certainly better than Van Gaal’s for sure!
#3 Tactics
Van Gaal started out with a 3-5-2 formation that he used with Netherlands in the 2014 World Cup. The reasoning behind the change was that there are no players for his more preferred 4-3-3 formation. But if it was expected that the likes of Ashley Young would work as a wing back, then it was definitely doomed to failure. And so the results showed.
Luke Shaw is an attacking left back, but it is doubtful that a youngster such as him would survive having to patrol the entire wing on his own, when he is used to having a winger to help him out. Daley Blind did exceptionally well in the World Cup for Holland in that position, but it seems he will be played in the defensive midfield role for Manchester United, once again begging the question why.
A three-man defence is definitely not working out for Van Gaal, and his pre-season talk of wanting to make this change and get the players to think seems to have certainly backfired. He is now back to a four-man defence with a diamond midfield, but the defending has still been horrific.
Moyes, for his part, did not do much in terms of tactics, and decided to keep things as they were. He may not have inspired the team to reach great heights, but he definitely did not come looking to rock the boat just for the sake of it; he believed in stability. And while their game may have been uninspiring then, the results were certainly better than what they are putting up now.
#4 Player selection
Van Gaal may have got it right by dropping Juan Mata and having a front three of Radamel Falcao, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, but his other selections, especially in defence, have not worked out at all. Tyler Blackett does not seem the part, and perhaps has been thrust in the limelight far too soon.
Granted, injuries may have played a part, but it was always known that the Red Devils’ defence needed more reinforcements. If the plan is to play a three-man defence, surely there should be more central defenders in the team in case of injuries or suspensions? At present, it seems that only Marcos Rojo can help out there, and United’s defence is getting found out every game, with the Leicester game a particularly good example.
David Moyes perhaps can look back and be happy about his role in bring Adnan Januzaj into the limelight; by the way, Janujaz hasn’t started a single game for United under Van Gaal. In a singularly poor season, Januzaj was one of the few good things that happened for United fans to be happy about, and he seems to be having trouble making it into the team now.
#5 Experience
David Moyes did not boast a great CV, but Van Gaal did. Therefore, for Moyes to falter at a big club is at least excusable, and one can only hope that he will have learnt a thing or two from his stint at Manchester United.
Van Gaal does not have that excuse. He knew exactly what he was getting into when he agreed to become the manager. He knew what the expectations at a big club such as Manchester United would be, having already managed other European heavyweights like Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Moyes had negligible European experience, while Van Gaal has bucketloads of it. And yet, it seems like Moyes has already done better with far lesser resources than Van Gaal.
It is unfair that Moyes was criticised so much during his reign, with even the players coming out and talking smack about him. On the other hand, Van Gaal doesn’t get any such criticism at all. But if the results don’t improve soon, things are going to go downhill very fast.
To quote Bayern Munich’s president during Van Gaal’s time at the club, “Football should be enjoyable, but there has been nothing enjoyable about football for quite a while. To say he had players behind him is a myth. Problems were created which were totally unnecessary and which have ripped the club to pieces.”
It seems Manchester United may have got more than they bargained for.
