Manchester United – Is Louis van Gaal’s CV Shielding Him From Criticism?

The word ‘Transition’ is capable enough to send the heads of the club fans crashing down in a heap. And rightly so, history has provided us with examples of cases where the cruel word gets intertwined with another such t-word which we refer to as ‘torrid’ or a d- word known as disaster. Every single club has to undergo such a phase, except for some which are accustomed to splashing the cash whenever such a transition period approaches them.

But, exceptions are available in every corner of the globe, even if the globe doesn’t have a distinct corner. Manchester United are one such team who have learnt how tough these periods can be, usually for the worse. After finishing a season to forget at 7th, the Old Trafford faithfuls got a taste of life without Sir Alex as the Reds failed to finish even in the Europa League spots. Mostly, money is something which can help you tide over crises, but in United’s case, it clearly hasn’t. Captures of Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao, Ander Herrera and the likes meant that United seemed a force to reckoned once again, at least on paper. But football is not played on paper, is it?

A pathetic 0-0 draw at the Abbey Stadium against League Two side Cambridge United has raised numerous doubts about the abilities of this expensively assembled side. On a frosty, wintry away day, United failed to put even a single goal past a side who lie 76 places below 4th placed United in the English charts. Although, the U’s were exceptional in stopping United, pressing the ball, working hard to close down spaces in front of the back four. But remember, Manchester United are a side worth more than 150 million pounds but they still fail to register even a single goal against Cambridge United.

We saw van Gaal adhere to the 3-5-2 in the FIFA World Cup last summer and as evident from Spain’s 5-1 hammering at the hands of the Dutch, it worked quite well. That side consisted of both Robin van Persie and 24 year old Daley Blind, just like Manchester United. Time and time again, we saw the Dutch use long balls to an effective use and break open defenses in a blink of eye. The side consisted of players who were very much accustomed to featuring in sides which profess the Dutch system of football so expertly. They had so many hard working players, who worked their socks off for their manager and were proficient in playing the long ball system in every single game. Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt, Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij and Martins Indi are ball playing players who are versatile enough to fit into the Dutch style.

And looking at the players United have in their ranks, most of them don’t seem to fit into a system which adheres to the long ball one. The 3-5-2 requires ball playing centre halves and that’s something United don’t have. It allows you to build from the back only if you’ve defenders who have played this under this formation before and are comfortable and confident in possession. The United centre halves haven’t been any way near to scratch in doing this. And every time the ball falls to them, you can sense that something, if not anything, can go wrong.

Netherlands had KJ Huntelaar, who may not be younger than Radamel Falcao but a lot quicker and match fit than the Colombian. Of course, Falcao is still coming to terms with the Premier League after his career threatening ACL injury and that’s something which has made him lose confidence a tad amount of confidence, determination and intent.

More so, van Gaal’s decision to play Angel di Maria up top alongside Falcao has generated a lot of debate in the media. Fans do demand a straight swap between skipper Wayne Rooney and the Argentine, but van Gaal always seems to do what his heart says. When a direct runner at defenses play with his back to goal, we can’t blame him if he doesn’t do what he does when playing in the midfield. Di Maria is someone who loves to take on defenses and is adept in having a run at defenses from thirty or forty yards out but playing somewhere he hasn’t played before is almost out of question. He isn’t very good in getting in behind defenses or hold the ball up to allows others to enter the play.

van Gaal may argue about having a ‘twitchy bum’ when it comes to fielding a 4-4-2, but his traditional and uncanny 3-5-2 won’t work with a side such as United’s. If he wants the 3-5-2 to work, he needs a bit of reminding that the transfer window is a place where you can snap players you need and build a squad which fits into your system.

Teams which have big, powerful characters in their armory subjugate United aerially and United struggle big time. Stoke City are an example and they dominated United at Britannia but were unfortunate not to come away with all three points. United are a side who’re small in stature and burly forwards such as Peter Crouch, Olivier Giroud, Diego Costa, Harry Kane and Leonardo Ulloa and the likes can make a mockery of them. Even Cambridge United’s Tom Elliot troubled United time and time again in the air and the likes of Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones were no match for him.

Struggling against pace is another weakness of United’s flailing defense. A lack of a leader of men means there’s no sign of organization and when defending, United are ball watching but not getting close enough to the possessor to nick it off. As evident from how United conceded at home to Southampton.

There’s no sense of cohesion between the players. The constant juggling of systems is not helping them any bit. Louis van Gaal had the money to transform this side into a title winning side but he, instead of landing a top class centre half, he ended up buying a world class striker who isn’t getting along well enough.

Even the players haven’t been confident enough of playing long balls into the box. It does seem as if deep inside, they know that if it goes wrong, he’ll be at the receiving end of some stick . In shorter terms, a slight fear of failure has crept in too. You look at how United conceded the first goal against MK Dons, and you’ll get an indication how pathetic it has been. There’s no confidence in what they do and that leads to unfathomable errors.

If David Moyes would’ve been in charge and all this would’ve been transpiring, fans would’ve been condemning for everything he’d have done. Shades of the turbulent times have been seen some what but Louis van Gaal has been saved off some blushes because of his reputation and impressive resume. The success that he’s enjoyed is enabling the fans into trusting him and giving him time.

But he had a lot of cash in his treasury but Moyes didn’t. Still, van Gaal has been at par with how Moyes fared and nothing much has improved, despite of being a side full of attacking riches. Injuries have made it tough for him to decide his first team but his system doesn’t seem to work good enough, even with all of their players fit.

And Moyes managed United when the Reds were still playing in the Champions League, but van Gaal is doing the same in its absence and has already been sent packing from the League Cup by MK Dons of all people.

Although United have reflected van Gaal’s arrogance here and there in the season but there hasn’t been anything substantial for United fans to grin about. United aren’t at fourth because they’ve played well but because Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool haven’t. If there’s something which can cost United a spot in the top four, then it’s their gaffers’ arrogance and stubbornness. And simply, Manchester United have been victimized by his inability and reluctance to change his system.