Teams park the bus everywhere. Including in England. The other big difference in England is if you use speed and relentless pressure they crack faster than your average defence. In England there is more of a level playing field to employ these types of tactics because of the less tactical nature of the footballing landscape. Decades under Ferguson confirms this, basically from what we saw last year, devolving each game into a tactical battle and/or chess match will more than likely result in more lost points than more gained points. Tireless amounts of possession and OCD control over every facet of the game basically renders the attack pointless.
Now that sample size itself is quite small, only a single season but a very telling one if you factor in Van Gaal's inability to change and adapt his ways to suit his surroundings. If we see more of the same that we saw last season then we are going to be in for a torrid time.
We don't really lack creativity in the final third, we lack pace and the desire to create pressure and dynamism. All of the front three players can all play at a high level in attack, the big difference is they have been drilled to value not losing possession in the final third over taking risks. Trying multiple avenues to attack your individual opponent is basically stepping outside of the required systems in place for you to function in this system. Their underlying logic while being coached at the moment is to not stuff it up, because if you do you will probably get dropped. If you use your instincts then you are going against the grain.
Call me negative and pessimistic but that all became clear about 3/4 of the way through the year with all the pointless fluffing about and trying to make everything work. It is almost like demolishing the building just to re-design the master bedroom with an ensuite.
Angel Di Maria is the absolute perfect example of what I am talking about. A clearly gifted and talented footballer in attack, a risk taker, a fine dribbler and a player who can put teams on the back foot. Why is he not in the fold? Why is he not one of the coveted players in the squad?
He plays naturally outside the construct of Van Gaal's system and is unwilling to adapt his game to suit it. Players like Herrera, Januzaj and Valencia are living proof that being willing to adapt your game to suit Van Gaal is more favoured than being a talented player who plays contrary to the system. RVP, Nani, Di Maria, Falcao (who tried desperately and received absolutely zero backing in terms of system play and was basically thrown tot he wolves), Zaha (albeit not good enough) and Welbeck (reaching on my part to include him admittedly) have now either not been deemed useful enough or chosen to move on.
It isn't just about creativity and pace and players pedigree and stature and who they are as a footballer. You have to be willing to adhere to the methods and style. The methods and style are almost the complete opposite to what has historically won the league over the last 20 years. Until he realizes that the OCD levels of possession, strictness and gimping of our attacking players are the main underlying problem it doesn't matter who we bring in, it will likely end the same.
First paragraph
Louis has already said we need more speed, he said he hoped Angel di Maria stayed and he can give us the speed. Also teams like Barcelona and Bayern use relentless pressure, that's exactly how Louis van Gaal wants to play, give them no rest. He also doesn't have OCD control over every facet, his attacking players he wants to be creative and spontaneous, if Robben had the ball he'd be expected to make things happen, he would be allowed to dribble past players etc. He doesn't want it to be a tactical battle, countless times in his career he has said it is dominant football, to dominate the opposition, if Barcelona played stoke on a wednesday night it wouldn't be much of a chess match.
Second paragraph
Louis has said last season it wasn't how he expects his team to play and hopefully with the right players and successful execution on the pitch we can see that this season, recently however he has said that we are still lacking creativity in the final third, he will no doubt look to solve this problem.
Third paragraph
By creativity he means creating chances, making things happen, Robben is a creative player because he can dribble past opponents and attack space even if he doesn't want to pass.
I disagree, Louis van Gaal expects his four most attacking players to be creative, they are expected to take more risks, Depay's flicks are part of his philosophy, Rooney, Mata and Young need to find the confidence to do that, they aren't told not to just like Robben or Figo was not told to keep possession over making things happen. And again you seem to be going on last season even though the manager stated numerous times that's not how his teams play, Barcelona or Bayern when he was successful with them were not how you described.
Fourth paragraph
Again you seem to be assessing Louis van Gaal's system based on last season alone, there is a reason Ajax 95 is considered one of the best of all time and it's not because they played like us, Bayern would not have done the double in his first season and champions league final if they played like us, his Barcelona side would not have won La Liga.
Fifth paragraph
He said he hopes Angel di Maria stays, it's evident he fits the profile of what he wants from his creative players, like Robben he tries to make things happen. Last season since this is his last job he uncharacteristically played it safe in the end to ensure fourth, mainly because he was lacking players in key positions and the team weren't very good at possession football in general, he wanted to get to the summer and then find players more suited to that, Darmian, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Depay are the types of players that can do what he wants.
Sixth paragraph
Already explained, he wanted to keep Angel di Maria, he clearly liked what he offered. The player wants to move and so the club let him. Herrera was playing as an 8, in Louis van Gaal's system the striker, left winger, right winger and number 10 are expected to create, the 8 is a box to box who supports both defence and attack but doesn't need to be risky in passing, he just needs to get the ball to the four creative players, Roy Keane would suit this role perfectly.
Seventh paragraph
I disagree with your assessment of how Louis van Gaal wants to play football, I don't think how we played last season is how he wants us to play, his Ajax and Barcelona sides are better examples.
