“You never know for sure, but i have the experience as a manager to know the goals will come”
-Louis Van Gaal-
Let me start by answering the question in the title. No, it is not right to blame the manager for Manchester United not able to score goals. United’s lack of scoring goals in the 2015-16 season has led them to criticise Van Gaal’s method of managing the team much to the wrath of the Manchester United fans and the football media all over.
To understand how good Van Gaal has been, it is imperative to take a walk back to history. Van Gaal rose to fame with the Ajax team. If it had the same kind of players and the coaching staff it would have been the best in the world now. Even then, that Ajax team is fondly considered to be one of the best teams in football. Pep Guardiola was a great admirer of this team. There was this superiority that they maintained, both in attack and defense. Keeping possession of the ball was the basic idea, it still is in Van Gaal’s philosophy. Positional discipline of Van Gaal’s teams, be it Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Barcelona used to surprise even the best in business.
Louis Van Gaal said to Ajax director on signing his first contract, “Congratulations for signing the best coach” . This was typical Van Gaal. All these years, what carried him through was his sky high confidence and belief in his ability. Nervousness was never in his books, for he believed it was for the feint-hearted.
Van Gaal Philosophy is mainly divided into three – Technical, Tactical and Attacking. Towards the start of his Manchester United managerial career, he was blamed for trying to adapt the team with the 3-5-2 formation. But actually Van Gaal doesn’t have a pre-determined formation. If you take his Ajax team, it had a 4-3-3 formation, he played 2-3-2-3 with Barcelona. Van Gaal’s philosophy is to be proactive. He wants his players to decide how the opponents should play and not the other way round. The basic Van Gaal system focuses on ball circulation and he devotes a lot of time in the training on positional play. The players must be able to find spaces and pass the ball at a quicker speed while forming triangles and angles. Forming triangles helps the players to be in position for ball circulation and possession.
This is a broad view of how his philosophy looked like, it worked at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern. It should work in Manchester United as well. Ever since he replaced Moyes, he has spent around 258 million. Fans and critics accuse him of not being able to get the requisite number of players. When Van Gaal took over Manchester United were struggling at 7th place. From that he led United to a 4th place finish and even in this season United are in the top 4. One can understand the frustration of the fans, but one should also not forget that he has big shoes to fill. With Ryan Giggs retired and the departure of notable players like Vidic, Evra, Ferdinand, Van Persie. He has big shoes to fill. Rooney – the trusted striker is not the same and he is getting older. 258 million may not be enough to replace these stars.
Van Gaal splashed the cash for getting Schneiderlin, Schwenstneiger, Blind, Rojo, Shaw, Memphis, Martial, Darmian. All his signings have been impressive. If you closely take a look at Van Gaal he has strengthened the United backline ever since Moyes left. United can boast of one of the best defensive line in the Premier League. Chris Smalling has developed himself to be one of the best in the world. In the 2015-16 season, Manchester United have enjoyed a larger possession than it’s opponents. The problem remains with the United frontline. Chances are being created but the finishing shoes seem to be missing. Martial has been impressive on the frontline for United, but he is still young and has areas where he needs to improve. Schneiderlin and Schwenstneiger has been a major plus point for United this season. They have worked well in tandem. Their workrate has been outstanding, and United keeps possession and concedes few due to the pivotal role these two play in the mid-field.
Cometh the January transfer window, Van Gaal would be reviewing his options. Manchester United probably needs a striker, centre back and winger and a left back. As you would all know the proverb “Rome was not built in a day”. It may take time, Van Gaal has laid the foundation. Now, it just needs to be carried forward to the next level. Believe in Van Gaal. He knows his job. Manchester United are just lucky to have him. Intolerance from the fans would lead to nowhere, let come the end of the season and one would know the greatness of Louis Van Gaal !
