Louis van Gaal | Manchester United manager

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LR7 said:
I remember on here last season we as United fans were asking why Moyes was exempt from criticism despite how poorly we were playing and the awful results. Everyone else was getting the blame. Fergie, Sir Bobby, the players and Woodward, but Moyes seemed to have a free pass until they realised he was living on borrowed time. There were only a couple of journalists like Miguel Delaney who criticised him early(ish) on - mainly for his tactics. It contrasts massively from LvG this season who was questioned from day one over the 3-5-2, over the galactico policy, and has been accused of breaking our identity and abandoning youth - despite almost breaking the record number of debuts given in just a few weeks. This new "you said we could judge you in three months" thing, is just the latest bit of stupidity.
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Even now, Redcafe posters are quick to blame Fergie and Woodward.

I don't get the 3 month judging period, but Telegraph and Guardian both ran a report card of sorts for LvG. I can understand if people want to be skeptical, but it does seem a bit odd, especially with all the Moyes solidarity last season.
 
itso 7 said:
The ex-players bit is understandable given their association with United and Fergie which gave them an obligation to tow the party line. Journalists on the other hand......
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Moyes represented the British dream. A fairly young and promising 'local' lad who took control of the biggest club in the world in tradition to what other great Scottish managers such as SAF and Busby did in the past. He was a beacon in an EPL ruled by 'evil' EU/South American managers who had invaded the league and were preventing the honest local lads such as the most talented Warnock and Big Sam from managing top level clubs. No wonder why the media closed an eye to his feckups


LVG wont get any protection that's for sure.
 
devilish said:
LVG wont get any protection that's for sure.
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Exactly.. They act like they haven't questioned Van Gaal or predicted our doom again after our opening fixtures.. The next 5 fixtures are tough and I expect us to drop points.. Van Gaal will be shown no mercy unlike Moyes if we fail to do well..
 
kotha said:
Exactly.. They act like they haven't questioned Van Gaal or predicted our doom again after our opening fixtures.. The next 5 fixtures are tough and I expect us to drop points.. Van Gaal will be shown no mercy unlike Moyes if we fail to do well..
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Actually he'll get more stick. He's the first non British + Irish who dared taking the United job. He even had the arrogance of not offering a job to every class of 92 player + SAF's former staff he may have met.

Such attitude shows why England's national team is in such misery. Recently there was an interview from Harry Rednapp who wondered why Steve Bruce wasn't considered for the United job. It goes in line to the previous attempts of having Ryan Giggs as manager despite having won feck all. For all we know we may soon have to consider Prince George for the role while at it.

The media would just love VG to fail and they are not alone. Too many people feel that the club owe them a job due to their nationality/previous links to the club.
 
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devilish said:
Moyes represented the British dream. A fairly young and promising 'local' lad who took control of the biggest club in the world in tradition to what other great Scottish managers such as SAF and Busby did in the past. He was a beacon in an EPL ruled by 'evil' EU/South American managers who had invaded the league and were preventing the honest local lads such as the most talented Warnock and Big Sam from managing top level clubs. No wonder why the media closed an eye to his feckups


LVG wont get any protection that's for sure.
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Oh come on plenty of foreign managers don't get the stick your claiming. LvG is just a much heralded manager at the end of his career of course he's going to receive more judgement as more is expected from him. The club sacking a manager after a year has also heaped more pressure on as we've now established we won't stand for a poor season.

What's wrong with him getting judged at this point anyway? If we'd have won every game and he wasn't being praised endlessly loads on here would be complaining
 
Smores said:
Oh come on plenty of foreign managers don't get the stick your claiming. LvG is just a much heralded manager at the end of his career of course he's going to receive more judgement as more is expected from him. The club sacking a manager after a year has also heaped more pressure on as we've now established we won't stand for a poor season.

What's wrong with him getting judged at this point anyway? If we'd have won every game and he wasn't being praised endlessly loads on here would be complaining
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Its different because hes the first non British + irish manager of this club. Also united is the biggest club in the world which basically magnifies the inability of british managers to do the job on a global scale. That must have hurt

Top and experienced managers tend to have less stick then younger ones. Experience and trophies should be valued more by the media then doing well with an oversized microphone as no 10. Unfortunately in british circumstances its not the case
 
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devilish said:
Its different because hes the first non British + irish manager of this club. Also united is the biggest club in the world which basically magnifies the inability of british managers to do the job on a global scale. That must have hurt
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It shoud hurt, take the pain. Instead of moaning they should get in touch with modern football. Their sticking together and defend their incompetence by playing the Brit card, but watching physical training with their hands behind their back and picking players for good old 4-4-2 won't win them prizes, not when given time at any big club.
 
Dr. Funkenstein said:
It shoud hurt, take the pain. Instead of moaning they should get in touch with modern football. Their sticking together and defend their incompetence by playing the Brit card, but watching physical training with their hands behind their back and picking players for good old 4-4-2 won't win them prizes, not when given time at any big club.
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I agree wholeheartedly and as said its the reason why the national side is in such shambles. You won't get much at international front just because a player/manager is British, honest and hardworking (which usually means he's not particularly bright or technically gifted)
 
Louis van gaal :No one walks back into the team.
United have been hampered by injuries throughout an indifferent start to the campaign, particularly in defence, with the likes of Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones all sidelined.

New signings Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo and midfielders Ander Herrera, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia have also been among the casualties.

These problems are now starting to ease, although Wayne Rooney is suspended for another two games, but Van Gaal claims no senior player can take a place for granted.

The Dutchman said: "Nobody is walking back in my team. You have to earn it on the training ground - every player knows that.

"I have great respect for the players I use at this moment and I have also the confidence in these players.

"When you mention Rooney, Carrick and Jones - of course they are great football players, but we have more great football players. Sometimes the other football players are doing better. It is not only the name.

"I have seen, for example, the youngest player, (Paddy) McNair, was outstanding in his first match. You have seen the reaction of the fans. Every time he touched the ball - applause.

"Of course Jones, Evans and Smalling were not available, but I am always thinking that youngsters can take the job over, especially one or two games."

Contention
Van Gaal revealed on Friday that Evans, McNair, Valencia and Jesse Lingard were the only players remaining on the injury list, suggesting that Herrera, Smalling, Jones, Carrick and Young were back in training.

That quartet could come into contention for Monday’s trip to West Brom, but Van Gaal says his side’s erratic performances are not simply down to a lack of personnel.

He said: "I have said only that not always players of name are the best. I am looking for constant levels with individual players.

"The problem is to perform the philosophy together with 11 players on the pitch. When we are doing that on the training ground, together, the results shall come. I am convinced of that."

United have been questioned for not directing more of their £150million summer outlay into defence, but Van Gaal insists his squad should be good enough.

He accepts, however, that the disruption caused by having to make changes to his backline due to injuries has had an impact.

The 63-year-old said: "I have mentioned that three central defenders were injured. Is that normal in a club? I don't think that is normal.

"Then Jones and Valencia were also injured, so more or less five defenders.

"But (if) we have to buy five central defenders then they don't have any option to play (when others recover). You have to give options to the players to play, otherwise they are not involved. That is why I am working with 26 players, not 35 players."
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I like this from him, no sentiment no big names will play big games. Not scared of dropping players. Moyes was scared to take RVP off, I think LVG will drop him if he does not do well in future games.
 
He is honest to the last word and it's refreshing to have a straight talker like him around. I am looking forward to how we will play the next five games especially the two big ones and whether we can raise our game to match them but whilst victory will be ideal I just think the performances will be more important.
However I don't think we can bemoan the lack of balance anymore since it is his responsibility to put out the the most balanced side he can and not make the team a hostage of the big teams. Playing with two strikers and a No.10 is not making us an irresistible attacking force either and it's certainly not helping us in taking better care of the ball. There are things that are within his control that he could do to make us a solid side that is also very good going forward.
 
vidal7 said:
"I have seen, for example, the youngest player, (Paddy) McNair, was outstanding in his first match. You have seen the reaction of the fans. Every time he touched the ball - applause.
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We've the best fans ever :drool:


I like the idea and to come out publicly and say it (if the players don't already know) is brilliant, it shows them where they stand that HE is the man in charge. I've no doubt that some players in that same squad thought they were more important than the manager last year. Actions speak louder than words though and RVP needs to be dropped for the next game unless he's doing things right in training.

Btw, how or why did things go so wrong with Barcelona in his final season that got him sacked? The man so far has done nothing wrong in my eyes and seems like a perfect world class manager.
 
Completely agree with English players playing for the U21. Germany and Spain have been taking their youth teams seriously gor ages now. DDG, Thiago, Koke, Isco all won the juice competition last summer. Isco for example even played for their juice team this week.
 
Bet Brentan won't let Sterling play for the under 21's, so he can get a further taste of international tournament football.
 
Trizy said:
We've the best fans ever :drool:


I like the idea and to come out publicly and say it (if the players don't already know) is brilliant, it shows them where they stand that HE is the man in charge. I've no doubt that some players in that same squad thought they were more important than the manager last year. Actions speak louder than words though and RVP needs to be dropped for the next game unless he's doing things right in training.

Btw, how or why did things go so wrong with Barcelona in his final season that got him sacked? The man so far has done nothing wrong in my eyes and seems like a perfect world class manager.
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I wouldn't know the whole story there, and I am sure that someone will come in and elaborate. However, the board at both Barcelona and Bayern are known to be "difficult" and LvG is a very headstrong man, so I suppose it was inevitable that complications would eventually ensue. Especially if he was going through a sticky patch.
 
Adnan said:
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Some of that is quite funny:
That was 25 years ago, we hardly had video! It was all in his notebook! A different time, of course. His eye for detail is immense.”
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Watching the Everton game he barely celebrated the Falcao (winning) goal because he has something to urgently scribble down in his notebook!

The only thing I will say about LvG and Manchester United is that even with the older players here, they're unlikely to become the way Bergkamp described the older players in the Dutch NT, and in that way I think it helps that they've been so used to having Fergie here for a long time and for lots of them, sustaining success over a long period. Also Queiroz was quite particular and thorough in his training methods (according to Fergie and Nevilles autobiographies) so whilst the philosophy might be different I don't think the level required is too much for them to handle.
 

Louis van Gaal dismisses talk that his Manchester United players aren't fit enough

With only one goal scored in the final half hour this season, questions have been raised over the fitness of the United squad


Louis van Gaal has hit back at suggestions his players are not fit enough.

United have scored just once beyond the hour mark this season, raising the question of whether their players are in good enough condition to last the distance.

The 20-times champions have had to hang on for 2-1 wins in their last two games, against West Ham and Everton, but Van Gaal said their fitness or commitment was not in question.

“Fitness is maybe a point, because I have already said that I have adapted my intensity of training sessions to a lower level,” said Van Gaal. “But I have to give a certain level because they need to play 90 minutes.

“But I think we are fit enough because what I see of my players. They are fighting to the last minute and are willing to do everything, so I’m very happy with the passion of my players.

“But we have to learn to kill the game and you can do that, not with one or three or eight, we have to do that with 11 players.

“All of the 11 players have to think the same way, otherwise you lose balls unnecessarily and then we are going back instead of forward.

“That’s what we have to do but that takes time.”

United have yet to hit top gear this season under Van Gaal, who admitted they are waiting for a spark to kick-start their campaign, just like their boss did at Bayern Munich.

“Do you remember when he had our revival [at Bayern]?” said Van Gaal. “We won 4-1 at Juventus, a fantastic game, and that gave us that psychological benefit.

“That can be any match, but it cannot be every training session, because a training session is different to a match. You cannot simulate the match rhythm. We try to, but it’s different.”

As for United’s title chances this season, Van Gaal conceded there are better teams than them in the Premier League, chiefly Chelsea and Manchester City, their next two opponents after West Brom.

“You have your hopes but I do think there are stronger teams in the world now,” said Van Gaal.

“We have to make a team and that’s why I have a period of three years. I hope we can fulfil that dream we have together.”
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Adebesi said:
We havent really seen this legendary disregard of reputations and strength in taking difficult decisions for us just yet.
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He needs the material to do something like that, he won't do it for the sake of it.
 
Can anyone make sense of this bit?

“Fitness is maybe a point, because I have already said that I have adapted my intensity of training sessions to a lower level,” said Van Gaal. “But I have to give a certain level because they need to play 90 minutes.

“But I think we are fit enough because what I see of my players. They are fighting to the last minute and are willing to do everything, so I’m very happy with the passion of my players"
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Why adapt training sessions "to a lower level"? From what baseline? The level he would like to train us at? The level we trained before? Are these "lower level" training sessions adequate anyway? And what has any of that got to do with passion?

He's such a cryptic fecker in interviews (a lot of which is presumably due to language issues) and the journos don't seem to have the balls to seek clarity, so his interviews are infuriatingly vague. What he says kind of makes sense at a very superficial level but once you take a moment to really try and understand what's being said, it's a bit of a house of cards.
 
JPRouve said:
He needs the material to do something like that, he won't do it for the sake of it.
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So he hasnt dropped a "big name" player because the quality of the "small name" players behind them isnt sufficient to warrant it? I dont buy that.

Im not criticising LVG BTW, its just an observation really. Over the summer there was a lot of excitement about having the brave and fearless manager who would do what Moyes was too scared to do: drop one of Rooney or RVP to give us a better balance. He hasnt done that. In fact he has done the opposite - brought in another striker, one who prefers to play up front on his own, and thrown him on as well.

I believe there is a basis for LVG's reputation, I dont think he is playing people because he is scared to drop them. Therefore i retain some confidence it will all work out and he will get the three of them performing together. This may take time.

But it does put some of the criticism Moyes got last season in context, when people thought the only reason we played RVP and Rooney together was weakness.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Can anyone make sense of this bit?



Why adapt training sessions "to a lower level"? From what baseline? The level he would like to train us at? The level we trained before?

He's such a cryptic fecker in interviews (a lot of which is presumably due to language issues) and the journos don't seem to have the balls to seek clarity, so his interviews are infuriatingly vague. What he says kind of makes sense at a very superficial level but once you take a moment to really try and understand what's being said, it's a bit of a house of cards.
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It isnt clear is it, but I assumed he was talking about relative to what we did before. Especially because it seemed like with Moyes that was all we did, basically running cross-country steeplechases while carrying sacks of bricks. Wasnt there a thing about all our training being fitness and endurance and no ball work? So maybe LVG felt he had to take it down a level from that.
 
Adebesi said:
It isnt clear is it, but I assumed he was talking about relative to what we did before. Especially because it seemed like with Moyes that was all we did, basically running cross-country steeplechases while carrying sacks of bricks. Wasnt there a thing about all our training being fitness and endurance and no ball work? So maybe LVG felt he had to take it down a level from that.
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Yeah, the key might be in "I already said". Perhaps he's given a previous interview where he talked about changes he made to the fitness routines from last season? Fecked if I can remember it though.
 
Adebesi said:
So he hasnt dropped a "big name" player because the quality of the "small name" players behind them isnt sufficient to warrant it? I dont buy that.

Im not criticising LVG BTW, its just an observation really. Over the summer there was a lot of excitement about having the brave and fearless manager who would do what Moyes was too scared to do: drop one of Rooney or RVP to give us a better balance. He hasnt done that. In fact he has done the opposite - brought in another striker, one who prefers to play up front on his own, and thrown him on as well.

I believe there is a basis for LVG's reputation, I dont think he is playing people because he is scared to drop them. Therefore i retain some confidence it will all work out and he will get the three of them performing together. This may take time.

But it does put some of the criticism Moyes got last season in context, when people thought the only reason we played RVP and Rooney together was weakness.
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Except maybe RVP, no one else has been droppable and even for RVP it's not as clear as it could be, He prefers Rooney behind the main strikers. Which means that Mata, Wilson and Januzaj are fighting for the #9 position, they need to be better than Rooney as #10s or better than Rooney as #9, and LVG probably think that RVP is the best option, for the moment.

And i would ad that our attack is good at the moment, so there is no reason for him to change that.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Yeah, the key might be in "I already said". Perhaps he's given a previous interview where he talked about changes he made to the fitness routines from last season? Fecked if I can remember it though.
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Don't think it has got anything to do with Moyes. He wants to train at the highest level/intensity possible, everywhere, every day. That's the LvG philosophy and all. But because of mistakes in the past, especially at the Dutch NT in 2000-2002, he's also become very obsessed with not 'over training' the team, because his demanding sessions could lead to fatigue, injuries and loss of morale.

So coming in at United, he had to first take into account that most players had a World Cup and they were on tour, meaning he couldn't train at the standard he wanted, because of travel and recovery from World Cup and practice matches. After that we got an insane injury record, so he couldn't take too much risk with the fit players, leading to a lower intensity level of training than it would've been if he had 22 top fit players to work with. That's what he means by having to adjust the level of training.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Can anyone make sense of this bit?



Why adapt training sessions "to a lower level"? From what baseline? The level he would like to train us at? The level we trained before? Are these "lower level" training sessions adequate anyway? And what has any of that got to do with passion?

He's such a cryptic fecker in interviews (a lot of which is presumably due to language issues) and the journos don't seem to have the balls to seek clarity, so his interviews are infuriatingly vague. What he says kind of makes sense at a very superficial level but once you take a moment to really try and understand what's being said, it's a bit of a house of cards.
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In pre season they were doing double sessions, which we have maybe cut back to just 1 a day.

We may also be doing less running, or shorter sessions to try and curtail the muscle injuries we keep getting?. Either way it seem's he is trying to find the best balance of fitness to on pitch work for us.
 
We've been pretty much all over West Brom but we've got no penetration. LvG needs to switch formation in the second half as everything we're doing is being absorbed easily.

Seeing Fellaini warming up isn't the most welcome sight in all honesty.
 
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