Double Dutch at Manchester United
Call it Manchester United’s double-Dutch treat … you’ve heard of Hertz Van Rental; now I give you Louis Van Gaal and Robin Van Persie, potentially one of the most successful manager-player partnerships in the Premier League next season.
Van Gaal will breeze into Old Trafford with the intention of cashing in on the popular conception among the majority of his managerial colleagues … `I wouldn’t fancy following Fergie as manager of Manchester United – but I wouldn’t mind following the bloke who follows him!’
The immediate benefit will be to organise a dressing room, populated by high-priced newcomers whose deals were set up by David Moyes. But it will be the much travelled coach’s close relationship with Van Persie which will be a crucial factor in United’s bid to regain respectability.
The ace up the new boss’s sleeve will be the one already used by Sir Alex Ferguson to trump Premier League rivals when United plundered their 20th league title at the end of 2012-13 season.
Ed Woodward, the club’s executive vice-chairman, who has already wielded his power as the man behind Moyes’ sacking, has been busy with the £200million shopping list drawn up by the short-lived Scot.
Negotiations for the likes of Toni Kroos, Luke Shaw and Marco Reus have gone well beyond the `I quite fancy them stage’.
Moyes made strengthening the central defensive position as a major priority. Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Johnny Evans are not regarded as adequate replacements for the departed Nemenja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand.
Top targets Paris St Germain’s heavily contracted Thiago Silva and exciting young Juventus defender Angelo Ogbonna are.
That still leaves a sizeable chunk of the budget left for a top-class striker and they will need if such as Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao, Edison Cavani, Mario Mandzukic or Jackson Martinez are heading for North-West England. And yet none of them will be needed if Van Persie is fit enough to recapture the scoring form which won United the title.
The striker’s ruinous sequence of injuries meant Moyes was hardly ever able to exploit the legacy left by his mentor. Now, ironically, Van Gaal could reap the benefit of his predecessor’s considerate handling of Van Persie’s recovery programme following his knee injury picked up after scoring a hat-trick against Olimpiacos in March before he gets anywhere near Old Trafford.
His goal in his second comeback appearance against Hull City advertised he is fit and fresh for Van Gaal’s World Cup campaign. With Van Persie at his best in the team, who needs another striker?
The major bonus, established in sounding out the availability of any of the so-called big hitters, is not one of them have been influenced by United’s non-participation in the Champions League next season.
A source close to Old Trafford confided: `They are still attracted by wearing the red shirt of what is probably the best known football club in the world.’
