Louis van Gaal | Manchester United manager

[Feed Me]

Nah, you're being incredibly melodramatic. Can't believe anyone would genuinely think last night's defensive performance was comparable with Leicester or MK Dons. Weird.

I think I was watching a different game to most people.

My main gripes about United defensively relate to the whole team, not just the back line.

1) Pressing. We all know this is part of the philosophy, but we seem to be pretty poor at it. Only Hererra and Di Maria press with any intensity, the likes of RvP and Mata may as well not bother. WBA plotted their way through our attempts to press easily.
2) Tackling. Been saying this for a couple of years and I implore you to look out for it next time we play. Opposition players break free from our attempts to tackle with embarrassing ease. Not sure whether it's physical weakness or lack of technique, but we have players who seem to fly into challenges and invariably fail to win the ball. Sometimes, it takes a series of three or four attempts to win the ball.
3) Aerial balls. This is my biggest worry with Rojo. We look totally discomforted by direct, aerial balls. Used to be meat and drink for Vidic.
4) Balls down the outside channels. Rafael and Shaw are ridiculously easy to get in behind.

My point about the Leicester and MK Dons games is that teams seem to be setting up in the same way against us. Soak up the pressure and pick their moments. We're coming out of these games being able to cite all the statistics in our favour, but we're not picking up the results.

 

[MDFC Manager]

I think he tried the one striker system in preparation for the upcoming games but picked a really bad game to do it. Obviously he has to take full blame for that. The selection of RvP may have been understandable for this game, but if he starts the next game ahead of Falcao, I'd be truly baffled.

Otherwise though, I thought we played well enough to be able to win, and I think we'd have won if McNair was available for this game.

 

[Smores]

Since so many see an improvement can I be annoying and ask for a more specific answer from someone as I just don't see it.

We passed it around the back under no pressure then either passed it to Shaw wide who didn't do anything or found Di Maria who took punts. Most of the balls were hopeless ones into a crowded box and the chances reflected that.

As for no easy matches that's a convenient load of bollocks. We just don't make any match look easy.

 

[itso 7]

His previous reputation allows him some leeway, an armour against criticism that Moyes didn't have. Unfortunately reputation can only get one so far before questions need to start being asked. We had, on paper, a relatively easy start that we needed to get close to maximum points from. Looking at the table, we sit 6th and 5 points off 2nd, which seems fine until you see our fixtures vs. those of our top 4 rivals. I think LVG has made some questionable subs and tactical decisions. The lack of unrest compared to this time last season under Moyes seems to be due to LVG's previous slow starts and subsequent success, and to be fair, it's not even November yet. However, I think serious questions will need to be asked to the manager if our form don't improve by January.

These are valid concerns but we were always going to struggle early on even without considering the injuries that have decimated our defense and midfield. How do you build any form of momentum when you are always forced to field a different CB pairing, always have make at least one injury inspired substitution every match ? We need a settled eleven playing week in week out to go on a run and build on that. Looking at the matches we've lost and today they are as a result of individual errors leading to very soft goals against, it's a matter of adding experienced leadership at the back and we will have a better second half of the season.
That being said LVG hasn't helped himself by persisting with RVP and Mata in their current form. In almost every match we have played since Di Maria came we have created enough to win all the matches comfortably, in the first hour, but we haven't got our due reward because RVP is basically a passenger expecting balls to come to him, no runs whatsoever and then there is Mata who is too scared to do anything meaningful with the fecking ball. What we have is our midfield pushing too forward to make things happen, exposing us to counters - Herrera was basically playing like a ten because we had a ghost in that role. How can we have control of matches when our two furthest central players are non existant on the ball? That's on LVG and if he doesn't alter things then it's bound to take an ugly turn in November.
For us to have a short at qualifying for the CL we need to stay within fifteen points of the leading pack until the second half. If we do that and get a couple of defensive reinforcements then, providing we have benched the underperforming players, we have enough firepower to grab fourth or third .

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I remember Fergie taking strange decisions during the first three months of competition too, specially during the last decade.

I think is important that we give all players play time and try different formations and options, it is better to feck things up now than in the end of the season.

I think it speaks well about the mentality of the team that we got a goal late in the game. We are getting there.

As you say everyone needs playing time and due to last season we aren't in Europe, in any form and we got knocked out by MK Dons in the cup. Unfortunately the reserve league is now useless for giving senior players some playing time. It is difficult. When some do get played they look exactly what they are, players who haven't been playing.

Also someone mentioned that he hasn't got the underperformers of last season playing any better. That to me is more down to the quality of some of the players rather than LvG. The new players are putting a shift in.

 

[Balu]

WBA scored twice from two shots on target. MK Dons scored four from seven on target. Leicester scored five from five on target. It's a recurring theme this season - teams draw us in and then pick their moments to destroy us. We're being broken down at will and we can't seem to find a way to cope. Annoyingly, they're not even having to do anything special anymore - there was a time that beating United, or even taking a point from them, required a gargantuan effort.

That's a general problem when playing a highline though, that won't change. Part of the idea behind possession football is to reduce the number of chances the opponent gets, not to reduce the quality of chances against your team. The nature of the style means that you have to press and intercept passes and ideally have a sweeper keeper who is comfortable doing the sweeping behind the centerbacks to reduce the number of one-on-ones against him even further. Every time the opponent gets through the midfield it'll lead to high procentage chances and therefore often to a goal with the first shot on goal. It's the reason why van Gaal always builds his team from front to back and why defensive organisation is actually of low priority in the beginning of his working process. You give more stability to the defense by improving the midfield and attack than by spending time on telling your defenders what to do. The latter is fine tuning.

Or in short, the first months are always a nightmare for the defenders and even great defenders will look bad, if they are new to this style. There's just no way around it.

It really will be interesting to see what van Gaal does in the upcoming games against Chelsea and City and if he reverts back to a defensive/counterattacking formation like he did with the nationalteam at the World Cup just to get results. He never did at Barca or Bayern though, he sticked to his philosophy and believed that the development of the team is more important than shortterm results.

 

[Escobar]

I have belief in him and it was right to change the formation, nothing wrong with that. But I'm surprised we defend so poorly as a whole team and that we constantly hoof the ball. Hardly any quick short passes so we can open up teams and play someone through. Another point is RVP who should be dropped on current form

 

[Sweet Square]

Since so many see an improvement can I be annoying and ask for a more specific answer from someone as I just don't see it.

We passed it around the back under no pressure then either passed it to Shaw wide who didn't do anything or found Di Maria who took punts. Most of the balls were hopeless ones into a crowded box and the chances reflected that.

As for no easy matches that's a convenient load of bollocks. We just don't make any match look easy.

Structure essentially. There is for the most part in our games a 'structure' or 'plan' on how to play. We'v haven't had a 'structure' in years(Since '09'), even with the league titles with Fergie it was a combination of players producing moments of magic and the absolute talent of Fergie(Which simply can't be replaced). Evans said in a interview a few months back that under Fergie that as long as they won that's all that matter. This obviously has both positive and negative effects on the team(In the long term it seems to have been negative)

We can already see the this United has at the very least a idea of how it wants to play. It still relies on moments of magic from the top players but so do all top teams. The important point is that this team is not completely reliant on those moments. We are starting to look like a team again.

Van Gaal's comments yesterday about this being our best performance so far as it made sense (Although I don't agree with him)the West Brom goals came from a wonder goal and a mistake at the back with playing a high line. Now they were still costly mistake but that was all West Brom had. They benefited from our mistakes which is a lot better than the hanging on we did during the games against West Ham and Everton.

For once we had control over the game.

 

[Sweet Square]

That's a general problem when playing a highline though, that won't change. Part of the idea behind possession football is to reduce the number of chances the opponent gets, not to reduce the quality of chances against your team. The nature of the style means that you have to press and intercept passes and ideally have a sweeper keeper who is comfortable doing the sweeping behind the centerbacks to reduce the number of one-on-ones against him even further. Every time the opponent gets through the midfield it'll lead to high procentage chances and therefore often to a goal with the first shot on goal. It's the reason why van Gaal always builds his team from front to back and why defensive organisation is actually of low priority in the beginning of his working process. You give more stability to the defense by improving the midfield and attack than by spending time on telling your defenders what to do. The latter is fine tuning.

Or in short, the first months are always a nightmare for the defenders and even great defenders will look bad, if they are new to this style. There's just no way around it.

It really will be interesting to see what van Gaal does in the upcoming games against Chelsea and City and if he reverts back to a defensive/counterattacking formation like he did with the nationalteam at the World Cup just to get results. He never did at Barca or Bayern though, he sticked to his philosophy and believed that the development of the team is more important than shortterm results.

Great post.

 

[Crustanoid]

Hmm....don't really know what to say. West Brom were good at what they did and capitalised on defensive cockups with their fast forwards (who are actually quality players). But we had chances and could and should have gone ahead. Our team are still not cohesive but there are so many new faces, and injuries every week - can we really expect them to be dominant yet? I don't think you can blame LVG too much for that. Mourinho is able to pick pretty much the same XI every single match and most of that team know each other. Liverpool are stuttering, but they are in the same boat as us having lots of changes (and their manager has had way more time already). I think people need to stop whinging about LVG to be honest because we really can't assess him till Feb / March when he has had a chance to settle the player in.

 

[kotha]

Can't believe some on here are saying the football is like the Moyes time. There has been considerable improvement.. I have faith,I get a feeling even the Europa league would have helped us by giving us extra match practice for trying out different formations and tactics.. My only gripe with Van Gaal is how he plays RVP the whole game even when he isn't doing much. Other than that I still think we can make top 4..

 

[MDFC Manager]

That's a general problem when playing a highline though, that won't change. Part of the idea behind possession football is to reduce the number of chances the opponent gets, not to reduce the quality of chances against your team. The nature of the style means that you have to press and intercept passes and ideally have a sweeper keeper who is comfortable doing the sweeping behind the centerbacks to reduce the number of one-on-ones against him even further. Every time the opponent gets through the midfield it'll lead to high procentage chances and therefore often to a goal with the first shot on goal. It's the reason why van Gaal always builds his team from front to back and why defensive organisation is actually of low priority in the beginning of his working process. You give more stability to the defense by improving the midfield and attack than by spending time on telling your defenders what to do. The latter is fine tuning.

Or in short, the first months are always a nightmare for the defenders and even great defenders will look bad, if they are new to this style. There's just no way around it.

It really will be interesting to see what van Gaal does in the upcoming games against Chelsea and City and if he reverts back to a defensive/counterattacking formation like he did with the nationalteam at the World Cup just to get results. He never did at Barca or Bayern though, he sticked to his philosophy and believed that the development of the team is more important than shortterm results.

That's quite a fascinating insight. Thanks! Everything that you say in that post is appearing true, especially about building a team from the attack. The summer signings go towards proving exactly that.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

Surprised to hear LVG say he thought last night was one of our best performances of the season!!! We were bloody awful in the first half. We improved in the second and it was nice to get our first goal later than 63 mins (scary stat!). I thought it was a long way short of being a great performance though. 12 points from 8 isnt great, but it could easily be a lot less. Lucky against West Ham & Everton and lucky again last night - I dont think we're getting much luck during the games themselves, but our last 7 points have been very nervy and it could easily have been 0 pts!

 

[Dirty Schwein]

LVG not only has to get the right team structure, he also needs to stabilise the mentality of this team after it was crushed by Moyes telling them all that they should aspire to Jagielka's level. That scar will take a while to heal.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

I'm looking forward to the Chelsea match. Van Gaal has a great reputation as a tactician, and this is going to be the first big tactical battle of the season, I'm very curious to see how he sets the team up and what tactics he goes for.

 

[Speak]

Since so many see an improvement can I be annoying and ask for a more specific answer from someone as I just don't see it.

We passed it around the back under no pressure then either passed it to Shaw wide who didn't do anything or found Di Maria who took punts. Most of the balls were hopeless ones into a crowded box and the chances reflected that.

As for no easy matches that's a convenient load of bollocks. We just don't make any match look easy.

I'm not the only one then.
I see an improvement, as I'd expect with the outlay, but not the level of improvement others are seeing.

We looked good at home to QPR, but we looked pretty much just as good in Giggs' first game. Yesterday we saw Blind pass it to the full backs constantly under no pressure, and then we struggled to create without crosses and punts.

 

[Roboc7]

I expected a slow start for number of reasons but even so it is still disappointing because we could/should have done better, before the season started I though 5th-6th was where we would finish and LVG would need 2 seasons to get us back in the Champions League and that may still be the case.

The big issues at the moment are the centre of our defence which is mid-table quality and made up of players who can’t stay fit, and I don’t see that being solved without a new signing or two, and what to do with Mata/Rooney/Falcao and RVP. So far those 4 are not pulling their weight and we need to find the best combination pretty quickly which may mean only playing 2 of them.

LVG has made mistakes, he is clearly learning about the league but at least there are signs of improvement, if that continues and we solve some of our other problems we should be ok but it is too early to tell. He isn’t a genius who can do no wrong as a lot of fans thought but he has a track record of being successful, looks comfortable in the job, has the respect of the players and has a plan so we can only wait and see. Moyes on the other hand had no plan other than do what Everton did, he lost the dressing room, there were no positives, no signs of improvement and the longer he was in the job the worse we got. They might both end up being bad appointments but LVG will at least have brought some positives and made some big decisions that will benefit the club in the long run.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm looking forward to the Chelsea match. Van Gaal has a great reputation as a tactician, and this is going to be the first big tactical battle of the season, I'm very curious to see how he sets the team up and what tactics he goes for.

Every game is a tactical battle. Be nice to see us win one because, so far, we've been losing almost all the battles, tactical or otherwise.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Every game is a tactical battle. Be nice to see us win one because, so far, we've been losing almost all the battles, tactical or otherwise.

You know what I mean. In some games, the tactics are much more important than in others and are predominant in the result. I feel this game falls under that category.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

You know what I mean. In some games, the tactics are much more important than in others and are predominant in the result. I feel this game falls under that category.

I do know what you mean, I just lack your confidence in Van Gaal as a tactician because I've seen absolutely nothing to make me confident during his time in charge of United. I probably should have paid more attention when he was at Barca and Bayern, to be fair.

 

[SambaBoy]

The thing about these next two games if we were to win them it wouldn't even put a marker out. While it would be impressive, it's more of a "need to win" to catch up due to these recent results. A bit like when teams beat the top 4 but then throw points away to lesser clubs.

Hopefully we can get something out of both games and it will propel us forwards. LvG needs to decide on his best formation and at the minute RvP shouldn't be in the team, he needs to be bold and decisive to drop him.

 

[vidal7]

I am thinking, if that Rvp volley goes in and that penalty gets given, we would be saying how We are back, how it was a typical united under fergie win to come back and fight. How big a difference few inches and one bad referee decision can make.

 

[Dunk]

The players are a bunch of girls, so he's not entirely to blame for this disastrous start.

 

[Kostur]

I am thinking, if that Rvp volley goes in and that penalty gets given, we would be saying how We are back, how it was a typical united under fergie win to come back and fight. How big a difference few inches and one bad referee decision can make.

This is one thing but people ( like me ) would still question why the feck did we revert from the diamond? To accomodate Adnan? He could've played second striker or we could've played Wilson if Falcao's problem was jet-lag.

Why was ADM's instructions to keep crossing at all cost? There was no end product to it bar that Fellaini goal which wasn't even a header from a cross - something you hope for while crossing. Why is ADM and then Young still taking corners? Why won't we let Mata or RVP do it.

There are still plenty of questions that should be asked despite of the result.

Another question is, what formation will we play against Chavski ? 4-1-4-1 again or revert to the diamond? So many questions.

 

[MancunianAngels]

The biggest issue for me is lack of games.

Fergie used to use some of the easier CL Group games to give first team players minutes so everyone was playing so a few injuries never left us in panic mode. Jones hasn't played enough, Herrera will need to get back to full match fitness again. It takes time to develop understandings and partnerships. That can't be done after less than 10 games.

At the moments, there's plenty who haven't been able to "play" their way into form.

 

[Empire]

I really don't understand the sudden change of tactics, or what those tactics were, at all today. Personally, I think LVG dropped a bollock tonight, and cost us 3 points. West Brom really weren't all that.

He wants to probably use that against Chelsea since he doesn't want the likes of Hazard getting a free run down our flanks.

Prior to yesterday's game a lot of people on here were saying how he needs to go 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and pack the middle against Chelsea and City so there was nothing wrong with him practicing against West Brom as the team should still have been able to win.

They scored 2 goals from 2 shots on target or something but otherwise we are in complete control and we created a lot of chances, there were quite a few good crosses into dangerous areas, Mata, RVP and Herrera were poor though and didn't do enough centrally.

I would not say it was Louis van Gaal's fear of West Brom that led to the formation change.

 

[NessunDorma]

Moyes 2013/14 Vs Van Gaal 2014/15 head to head record:

Swansea home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 0

Sunderland away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Burnley/Fulham away (team that finished 2nd in Championship equivalent to team that finished 2nd bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

QPR/Cardiff home (team that got promoted via the play-offs equivalent to team that finished bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

Leicester/Norwich away (team that finished 1st in Championship equivalent to team that finished 3rd bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 0

West Ham home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

Everton home:

Moyes - 0
Van Gaal - 3

West Brom away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Final scores:

Moyes - 21
Van Gaal - 12

I can understand why some people are more prepared to give Van Gaal time than they were Moyes. He has a track record after all, and a 'philosophy'. But his results to date have been just as bad as Moyes' were, if not much worse. And it's lucky for him that he does have a big reputation, because otherwise he'd likely be getting slaughtered in exactly the same fashion.

*Throws hand grenade*

*Runs*

 

[Getsme]

I am thinking, if that Rvp volley goes in and that penalty gets given, we would be saying how We are back, how it was a typical united under fergie win to come back and fight. How big a difference few inches and one bad referee decision can make.

I understand where you’re coming from with that post, however given the start we have had he has to take a lot of the blame. We have looked disjointed all season with the exception of the odd 10-20 minutes here and there, our attack looks good but very rarely has it found an end product, and our defence looks lost and are struggling to stay focused for the entire game. Our midfield has gone missing time and time again and have looked confused, it says something when we bring Fellaini on and it improves our game. He needs to get his ‘philosophy’ installed into the team as soon as possible, either that or change it as it clearly isn’t working at the moment.

The only reason he isn’t getting blamed by many is that we are playing attacking football and with a few fixes here and there we could have a good team, nevertheless it is up to him to sort it out, I’m sure he will but that doesn’t mean he should remain blame free.

 

[RedorDead21]

I do know what you mean, I just lack your confidence in Van Gaal as a tactician because I've seen absolutely nothing to make me confident during his time in charge of United. I probably should have paid more attention when he was at Barca and Bayern, to be fair.

Infairness you are judging him on the players mind lapses not LVG tactics....Phil Jones goes missing for goal 2 and thats the main reason for conceding. They didnt press for the first 10 minutes and that took a long time to reverse. None of these are tactics these are players not following instructions for large parts of a game.

 

[Empire]

Surprised to hear LVG say he thought last night was one of our best performances of the season!!! We were bloody awful in the first half. We improved in the second and it was nice to get our first goal later than 63 mins (scary stat!). I thought it was a long way short of being a great performance though. 12 points from 8 isnt great, but it could easily be a lot less. Lucky against West Ham & Everton and lucky again last night - I dont think we're getting much luck during the games themselves, but our last 7 points have been very nervy and it could easily have been 0 pts!

We have also been unlucky that is to say we could have had 3 points against Leicester had it not been for that questionable penalty decision and even tonight I'm quite sure the opposing play handled the poor blatantly. Jones also could have given away a penalty but the West Brom player stayed on his feet since there was not much force in the tackle but that hand ball seemed a penalty to me.

 

[.Rossi]

I for one am not happy with how things are going so far but....I have hope.

For the first time in over a year, I am looking forward to watching us and I actually enjoy watching us play.
That for me, is a massive improvement.

Although, I could be on here, after the Chelsea and City games, pushing the panic button aggressively

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Moyes 2013/14 Vs Van Gaal 2014/15 head to head record:

Swansea home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 0

Sunderland away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Burnley/Fulham away (team that finished 2nd in Championship equivalent to team that finished 2nd bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

QPR/Cardiff home (team that got promoted via the play-offs equivalent to team that finished bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

West Ham home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

Everton home:

Moyes - 0
Van Gaal - 3

West Brom away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Final scores:

Moyes - 18
Van Gaal - 12

I can understand why some people are more prepared to give Van Gaal time than they were Moyes. He has a track record after all, and a 'philosophy'. But his results to date have been just as bad as Moyes' were, if not much worse. And it's lucky for him that he does have a big reputation, because otherwise he'd likely be getting slaughtered in exactly the same fashion.

*Throws hand grenade*

*Runs*

Was wondering about this recently. Had no idea we were so much worse off though. Bloody hell.

Considering the investment this summer, that's actually astonishing. And not in a good way!

 

[NessunDorma]

Was wondering about this recently. Had no idea we were so much worse of though. Bloody hell.

Considering the investment this summer, that's actually astonishing. And not in a good way!

And it's actually 21-12. I left out the Leicester away game, because I was thinking the equivalent game - Norwich away - took place when Giggs was manager. But it actually didn't. Moyes was the manager, and we won.

 

[MDFC Manager]

I for one am not happy with how things are going so far but....I have hope.

For the first time in over a year, I am looking forward to watching us and I actually enjoy watching us play.
That for me, is a massive improvement.

Although, I could be on here, after the Chelsea and City games, pushing the panic button aggressively

Indeed. I don't have that sinking feeling that I used to have even before kick off of a lot games last season. Also reading on the last page that LvG builds his team attack first makes me feel a bit more secure that he isn't completely ignoring the defense, its just further down the plan. I'm not sure I agree with that approach but hey, if it's worked for him elsewhere, it could here too.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

And it's actually 21-12. I left out the Leicester away game, because I was thinking the equivalent game - Norwich away - took place when Giggs was manager. But it actually didn't. Moyes was the manager, and we won.

It's funny the way so many people used to complain about the press giving Moyes an easy ride, because he was British.

It seems more like the exact opposite is true and Van Gaal's continental sophistication and "philosophy" does far more to diffuse criticism (on here and in the press) than Moyes' nationality ever did when he was in charge.

Obviously, I'm going to remain optimistic that Van Gaal will get his shit together eventually. Just funny that I was probably in a tiny minority willing to be patient with the previous manager in similar circumstances (point for point, much better circumstances, as it turns out) but 99% of fans and pundits seem to have drunk Van Gaal's Kool-Aid this time round. Barely any mention of him losing the dressing room or using the wrong tactics or formations when the results so far could easily support both those theories, just as much as they did under our last manager.

 

[Adebesi]

I do know what you mean, I just lack your confidence in Van Gaal as a tactician because I've seen absolutely nothing to make me confident during his time in charge of United. I probably should have paid more attention when he was at Barca and Bayern, to be fair.

Read his book, the biography by Maarten Meijer. It gives a good sense of the tactician and how and why his teams often have these teething problems. (Then you get a year or so of real quality out of him, then things fall apart.)

 

[MDFC Manager]

Moyes 2013/14 Vs Van Gaal 2014/15 head to head record:

Swansea home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 0

Sunderland away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Burnley/Fulham away (team that finished 2nd in Championship equivalent to team that finished 2nd bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

QPR/Cardiff home (team that got promoted via the play-offs equivalent to team that finished bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

Leicester/Norwich away (team that finished 1st in Championship equivalent to team that finished 3rd bottom in Prem):

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 0

West Ham home:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 3

Everton home:

Moyes - 0
Van Gaal - 3

West Brom away:

Moyes - 3
Van Gaal - 1

Final scores:

Moyes - 21
Van Gaal - 12

I can understand why some people are more prepared to give Van Gaal time than they were Moyes. He has a track record after all, and a 'philosophy'. But his results to date have been just as bad as Moyes' were, if not much worse. And it's lucky for him that he does have a big reputation, because otherwise he'd likely be getting slaughtered in exactly the same fashion.

*Throws hand grenade*

*Runs*

I really don't think that's a good way to compare. Just for example, two Fergie title winning seasons could have massively different types of results versus same opposition.

 

[Sam]

He wants to probably use that against Chelsea since he doesn't want the likes of Hazard getting a free run down our flanks.

Prior to yesterday's game a lot of people on here were saying how he needs to go 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and pack the middle against Chelsea and City so there was nothing wrong with him practicing against West Brom as the team should still have been able to win.

They scored 2 goals from 2 shots on target or something but otherwise we are in complete control and we created a lot of chances, there were quite a few good crosses into dangerous areas, Mata, RVP and Herrera were poor though and didn't do enough centrally.

I would not say it was Louis van Gaal's fear of West Brom that led to the formation change.

If we play that formation of a midfield one against Chelsea, they will absolutely murder us. I honestly have no idea what the thinking behind those tactics were last night, but it certainly wasn't a 4-2-3-1, and we certainly weren't packing the midfield.

It was more like some sort of 4-1-4-1 with us packing the final 3rd of the pitch, and leaving Blind all on his own in the centre for the majority of the game. It was stupid.

 

[NessunDorma]

It's funny the way so many people used to complain about the press giving Moyes an easy ride, because he was British.

It seems more like the exact opposite is true and Van Gaal's continental sophistication and "philosophy" does far more to diffuse criticism (on here and in the press) than Moyes' nationality ever did when he was in charge.

Obviously, I'm going to remain optimistic that Van Gaal will get his shit together eventually. Just funny that I was probably in a tiny minority willing to be patient with the previous manager in similar circumstances (point for point, much better circumstances, as it turns out) but 99% of fans and pundits seem to have drunk Van Gaal's Kool-Aid this time round. Barely any mention of him losing the dressing room or using the wrong tactics or formations when the results so far could easily support both those theories, just as much as they did under our last manager.

Yeah, same here. I wouldn't be surprised to see Van Gaal come good at all. But at the moment, he is living off his reputation somewhat - a luxury that was never afforded to his predecessor (largely because he didn't have much of a one).

Although a couple of bad results against Chelsea and City, and I reckon the natives will start to get restless . . .

 

[Getsme]

Infairness you are judging him on the players mind lapses not LVG tactics....Phil Jones goes missing for goal 2 and thats the main reason for conceding. They didnt press for the first 10 minutes and that took a long time to reverse. None of these are tactics these are players not following instructions for large parts of a game.

Really, how do you know this?