Perhaps but then again this is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, why his philosophy works only in glimpses and he's found himself in his current predicament... hoping for the teams above us in the PL table to completely feck up things so he can crawl into fourth place and with the vast majority of the fan base wanting him gone asap.
The need for a 20+ league goals forward is more than evident. Since LvG found out, halfway through last season, that van Persie can't be that man anymore, he's been moaning about it himself. Yet, he chose not to address the issue but to go into the season with Rooney as the only senior forward in the squad. Right now, Griezmann is maybe the hottest forward in the world, he won't come here just to be shoved into the wings if captain Rooney isn't pleased with his new midfield role and/or LvG doesn't consider Griezmann his ideal #10.
Which brings me to the Rooney issue, someone has to find a way to give him enough playing time to please him but at the same time create a side that gradually will become less and less dependent on him for goals and creativity in the attacking third. LvG's master plan is to turn him into the linchpin of our midfield, something that will probably create more problems than the ones it will solve in the near future. I don't see LvG having any kind of intention to sell Rooney. Instead of that, he considers giving a contract extension to the other player whom he doesn't know how to utilize... Mata.
He also had a whole summer to sign a ball playing CB. He didn't and converted Blind into a CB. The latter seems to be the third player, after DDG and Rooney, with a secured place in the starting lineup. LvG isn't the most easy-going person in the football world and i guess he wants at least one of his countrymen (and a player he signed himself) with an important role on the pitch. So, the chances are that Blind-Smalling will be our main partnership at the back should LvG runs down his contract.
As for Kante, Woodard bought him a defensive minded b2b midfielder with exquisite stamina levels in Morgan last season and LvG has absolutely no clue what to do with him. I can't see how buying a second one would make things any better as far as the implementation of the infamous philosophy is concerned.
No, LvG needs to go. Not because he's a bad manager, no one can deny his credentials and his history in the game. Because after endless changes of formations, numerous experiments with tactics and players' positions, he looks like a man who's run out of good ideas. He's one step away from retirement and he doesn't look like he cares about making the crucial decisions (Rooney, Mata, spend big on a midfielder, a CB, a winger and a forward) which will affect the club's future. And after two whole seasons he's bored the fans to death and he looks tired himself. And we can't get him Neymar and Muller and make things easier for him.
