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Tactical Genius
Van Gaal also possesses an astute footballing brain and great tactical mind. You can’t have a CV like that in football without having a genius of a tactical mind. Van Gaal has always wanted his team to play attacking, entertaining football. But he also knows that can’t happen always. It depends on the type of players at his disposal. In the world cup qualifiers Holland were unbeaten and played with a 4-3-3 formation. The played exactly the type of football which was expected of them.
Fast, flowing, lots of movement and interchanges between players is what defined their qualification campaign. But a bad injury to key player Kevin Strootman before the world cup and everything went for a toss. Knowing that he does not have the personnel to cover for Strootman, Van Gaal changed his formation to a more defensive 3-5-2, much to the anger and disbelief of the Dutch fans & media.
Fast forward to the present and all are hailing Van Gaal as a Master tactician none so more for the 5-1 demolition of Spain. This shows that Van Gaal knows how to utilize the resources at his disposal and the how to get the best out of them. He varied his formation from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 as per the opposition and circumstances in the matches. But the best example of Van Gaal’s tactical genius is the substitution of Tim Krul in the quarter finals against Costa Rica. He has so much confidence in himself that he backs himself 100% for whatever decision he takes.
Krul didn’t even play a single minute at the world cup and he was put into such a situation by Van Gaal. Had this gone wrong the whole world would have been on his back and he would have been made a scapegoat. It’s not that Van Gaal had an ‘epiphany’ and sent in Krul just before the penalties. It was a plan that he had already thought about and had Krul practicing for penalties. Van Gaal has shown time and again he has the tactical know how, the ability to take the risks and the self belief of executing those risks to succeed at any level of Football.
Nurturing young talent
Louis Van Gaal has always been known as a man with a strong personality and dominating presence. But perhaps the most endearing part of his managerial experience is his ability to provide chances to youngsters. Maybe it’s because of his personality, but as he says youngsters ‘buy’ his philosophy more quickly than most established stars. The reason maybe his achievements, maybe they just want to impress him or perhaps he has that way with young talent. Whatever it is, wherever Van Gaal has gone youth talent has always flourished.
Clarence Seedorf from Ajax, Xavi from Barcelona and Thomas Muller from Bayern can back this case. Van Gaal not only works with the senior team but he takes extra interest in developing youngsters. Not only that he works from the bottom level so that the future of the club have a proper Setup and process to develop talented youngsters year in year out. Now that bodes well for a club like Manchester united who are known to give youth talent the chance time and again.
Of course, there are few occasions where they have gone wrong (e.g. Paul Pogba). But overall they have had a good history of getting youngsters through their youth setup to the senior team. So with Van Gaal at the helm you can expect the younger talents at united to get all excited. They will know they would now be given a good chance to prove themselves. United fans would be excited with the youth prospects that would come on to play in the senior team this season. At least they won’t be as bad as few members from the past seasons.
Target for season
All in all, Van Gaal promises to be the one that would take United back to the glory days. A Man like Van Gaal will be expected to go for the title in his first season itself. But a more realistic target would be top four and Champions league place. If he gets few more signings which he wants, United may well challenge their ‘Noisy neighbors’ and Jose’s ‘Chelsea’ for the Title. Remember there is no Champions league this season for united so they can completely concentrate on the league this season.
But what Van Gaal brings to United is that winning mentality lost during the Moyes era. He brings that killer instinct and the fear in opposition when playing against his teams, just like Fergie did. He also has an assistant who knows English football inside out and not to mention the club itself. In Giggs he has a perfect partner in crime who would help him settle down and give him all the necessary details about the club and English football in general.
So there is little wonder that the arrival of Van Gaal has caused so much excitement among united fans and they are all set to raise their voices against opposition fans after a disappointing season of being mocked all season last time out. The Challenge is huge at a club like Manchester United but for Louis Van Gaal, it’s been there done that.
