LVG's Legacy/Foundations

[Sylar]

Some of the posts in this thread, hell on this page, are pure WUMs, which makes the dicussion difficult to have. I dont get why actual discussions cant be had on this topic.

LVGs football in that second season was terrible. First season wasnt as bad imo. But at least in the second season we got the FA Cup, first post-fergie trophy (not counting CS).
He was an improvement on Moyes, I actually dont have anything positive to say about Moyes. LVG at least saw youth being played, a trophy being won, a top 4 finish (which gave him that second season which he unfortunately didnt push on with).

The transfers is a strange one. In hindsight they all look terrible, but I remember the excitement when we got:
Rojo, Falcao, Di Maria, Blind, Herrera and Shaw (latter two earlier though)
and then the following year got:
Memphis, Morgan, Basti, Darmian and then finally Martial.

There was a buzz but it didnt work out for most of them, whether it was due to LVG or the players themselves. (Rojo and Herrera are better this year when actually played and played in their proper positions). Still have hope for Shaw. Blind is a good player to have in our squad. Martial is getting back to form / his best.

I think one thing he did was sell a lot of players we didnt need and got them of our wage bill, a lot of the older ones or unneeded ones. (Still think Hernandez was a mistake but it was what the player needed).

 

[Successful]

We are now playing exciting/attacking football. The fans are excited when a match is scheduled. We look forward to our games.
We have now won 6 league games in a row, for the first time since....SAF! LVG had 2 full seasons to do what Jose has achieved in 6 months.

And during those 6 games, referees have made horrendous decisions AGAINST us...not for us, as your post states. Did you watch the game against Middlesborough? The game against WHU was the first time, where we have profited from bad officiating. The other games have generally been against us. We have only been awarded 1 penalty (I think) so far this season, which is definitely strange.

And who laid the foundations for making that happen? Jose might even be sending a text message to thank the man tonight.

 

[psychdelicblues]

Van Gaal's legacy is limited to Martial, Rashford, Rojo, Darmian and the development of a few players because Mourinho chose not use it. But reading recent contributions to this topic might give the impression that Mourinho is doing a good job and he got United playing well and scoring lots of points. In fact United is 13 points behind the leader and hasn't beaten a top 4 club, while the current winning streak has a lot to do with wrong off side and red card decisions. But I'll give Mourinho credit for that, because PL referees are generally spineless cowards who are easily intimidated by Mourinho.

It's hard to imagine Van Gaal would have been in a worse position by now if he'd gotten the full support of the board a year ago, with or without spending 300 million in august. This team is helpless without Zlatan, but that's not a transfer policy, that's a one off. Both in his unique combination of skills and importance to a team, and in beeing without contract and fit. It's not like you can get another player like that when he's too old, which can't be long. And even with him it's not very good. You can get another player like Pogba including his ridiculous price, but paying those amounts of money doesn't prevent him playing like a headless chicken. He's got that in common with DiMaria, but the difference is he can't be sold on with less than a 15 million loss on it, it will be difficult to sell him on without losing more than 50 million. Maybe to a Chinese club, they don't have much understanding of football there yet.

But the Chinese spending spree is another reason why putting the emphasis on young players in general and local talents especially wasn't such a bad idea. Clubs that have a policy of buying the finished product for a lot of money will feel suffer the most from the Chinese. Trying to play posession football wasn't such a bad idea either, it is difficult in the PL, especially with players who have been playing in England for a long time, but I saw Real Madrid-Dortmund a few weeks ago and United isn't getting nowhere near that level with this kind of football.

Another car crash of a post.

It was so bad.

Nicely paragraphed though........

 

[IBleedRed]

LvG steadied the ship after the Moyes disaster, however it's tough to say he laid anymore foundations than that. It's clear that Jose does things a lot differently and utilizes different players, so it would be generous to contribute too much of the credit to LvG.

 

[Revan]

LvG steadied the ship after the Moyes disaster, however it's tough to say he laid anymore foundations than that. It's clear that Jose does things a lot differently and utilizes different players, so it would be generous to contribute too much of the credit to LvG.

There are no foundations. From all 13 or so players LVG signed, only 2 (Rojo and Herrera) are absolute starters, with Herrera having had nothing to do with LVG (was totally a club signing). Most of the players who he has signed (Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Depay) have already left or are close to leaving. From the players he promoted, only one is on Mourinho's plans (for now).

We got less points under LVG than we are getting under Mourinho, we scored less goals than we are scoring under Mourinho, we are conceding the same amount of goals, we are creating much more chances and we are playing far more attractively. And the trend is clearly up under Mourinho, while was down under LVG (a worse second season than the first season)

Unlike on LVG's case, all four Mourinho's signing have been doing quite well here, so no money has been burned like it happened under LVG.

The Dr. Ridiculous post has nothing to do with reality. He mentions Pogba like he is an another Di Maria when it could not be further from the true. He mentions how referees are intimidated from Mourinho when we have had more calls against us than in our favor.

The foundation legend should die. It was always a legend, nothing more.

 

[RedPed]

And who laid the foundations for making that happen? Jose might even be sending a text message to thank the man tonight.

Ha ha what a joker!

 

[thepolice123]

And who laid the foundations for making that happen? Jose might even be sending a text message to thank the man tonight.

Get this man an award.

 

[IBleedRed]

There are no foundations. From all 13 or so players LVG signed, only 2 (Rojo and Herrera) are absolute starters, with Herrera having had nothing to do with LVG (was totally a club signing). Most of the players who he has signed (Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Depay) have already left or are close to leaving. From the players he promoted, only one is on Mourinho's plans (for now).

We got less points under LVG than we are getting under Mourinho, we scored less goals than we are scoring under Mourinho, we are conceding the same amount of goals, we are creating much more chances and we are playing far more attractively. And the trend is clearly up under Mourinho, while was down under LVG (a worse second season than the first season)

Unlike on LVG's case, all four Mourinho's signing have been doing quite well here, so no money has been burned like it happened under LVG.

The Dr. Ridiculous post has nothing to do with reality. He mentions Pogba like he is an another Di Maria when it could not be further from the true. He mentions how referees are intimidated from Mourinho when we have had more calls against us than in our favor.

The foundation legend should die. It was always a legend, nothing more.

Martial, Rashford, and maybe Shaw too, though one could obviously debate how much of that was down to LvG making good decisions or if they were "club signings". LvG's transfer record is far from great, especially when you look at which players Jose has found use for.
Did LvG leave a legacy? No.
But you could argue he laid a "foundation" of sorts by steadying the ship after Moyes tried to drag the club into a black hole. It probably made Jose's job a little easier, than if he had taken over right after Moyes was sacked.
It's all fairly pedantic though.

 

[Xaviesta]

I'm indifferent towards van Gaal but I have this question:

Why is van Gaal the only manager in the world who is credited with laying foundations regardless of how successful or otherwise he has been?

 

[Attila]

Van Gaal's legacy is limited to Martial, Rashford, Rojo, Darmian and the development of a few players because Mourinho chose not use it. But reading recent contributions to this topic might give the impression that Mourinho is doing a good job and he got United playing well and scoring lots of points. In fact United is 13 points behind the leader and hasn't beaten a top 4 club, while the current winning streak has a lot to do with wrong off side and red card decisions. But I'll give Mourinho credit for that, because PL referees are generally spineless cowards who are easily intimidated by Mourinho.

It's hard to imagine Van Gaal would have been in a worse position by now if he'd gotten the full support of the board a year ago, with or without spending 300 million in august. This team is helpless without Zlatan, but that's not a transfer policy, that's a one off. Both in his unique combination of skills and importance to a team, and in beeing without contract and fit. It's not like you can get another player like that when he's too old, which can't be long. And even with him it's not very good. You can get another player like Pogba including his ridiculous price, but paying those amounts of money doesn't prevent him playing like a headless chicken. He's got that in common with DiMaria, but the difference is he can't be sold on with less than a 15 million loss on it, it will be difficult to sell him on without losing more than 50 million. Maybe to a Chinese club, they don't have much understanding of football there yet.

But the Chinese spending spree is another reason why putting the emphasis on young players in general and local talents especially wasn't such a bad idea. Clubs that have a policy of buying the finished product for a lot of money will feel suffer the most from the Chinese. Trying to play posession football wasn't such a bad idea either, it is difficult in the PL, especially with players who have been playing in England for a long time, but I saw Real Madrid-Dortmund a few weeks ago and United isn't getting nowhere near that level with this kind of football.

 

[AR87]

You can get another player like Pogba including his ridiculous price, but paying those amounts of money doesn't prevent him playing like a headless chicken. He's got that in common with DiMaria, but the difference is he can't be sold on with less than a 15 million loss on it, it will be difficult to sell him on without losing more than 50 million. Maybe to a Chinese club, they don't have much understanding of football there yet.

lol.

I like LVG because he was a nutter, but thought moving on from him by the end of last season was the right decision for the club. For as dour as our football was and how much many of the players didn't care for him, his management or tactics, they didn't quit on him and give up like they did under Moyes. He got us an FA Cup, left and gone into retirement quietly without taking any sly digs at the club.

 

[Ashley R1+O]

And who laid the foundations for making that happen? Jose might even be sending a text message to thank the man tonight.

Sir Alex Ferguson (along with the help of Sir Matt) laid the foundations to make it all happen. All that has come after it, Moyes, Van Gaal, Jose and even those that come and go beyond him. Never forget it.

 

[VP]

I agree with some of what you've said and strongly disagree with others. I understand van Gaal isn't Mr popular for some but at least try and not make things up. His spending was under closer to 250m, not 350m. He left Ajax on his own accord in 1997, Barcelona in 2000, AZ Alkmaar in 2009. He was sacked by Barcelona in 2003, Bayern Munich in 2010 and Manchester United in 2016. So, he was hardly ''sacked from almost every job he had'' as you claim. It might be forgotten by some but he was a fine manager with a fine record. He is a man, who was passed his best by the time United hired him, and made inadequate progress across two seasons. As a result, he was rightly sacked for poor results and the poor football over the course of two seasons played a part too.

NB. Apologies if you're exaggerating but there are things in your post i strongly disagree with hence why I've quoted you.

Well, he left by 'mutual consent' in his first Barcelona which is essentially an euphemism for sacking; ditto for his subsequent Holland stint. So of the 7 jobs he's had, he's been sacked in 5.

Perhaps I've exaggerated: he's definitely not as bad as Moyes for instance. He's around the level of a Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce or Mark Hughes.

 

[AltiUn]

Van Gaal's legacy is limited to Martial, Rashford, Rojo, Darmian and the development of a few players because Mourinho chose not use it. But reading recent contributions to this topic might give the impression that Mourinho is doing a good job and he got United playing well and scoring lots of points. In fact United is 13 points behind the leader and hasn't beaten a top 4 club, while the current winning streak has a lot to do with wrong off side and red card decisions. But I'll give Mourinho credit for that, because PL referees are generally spineless cowards who are easily intimidated by Mourinho.

It's hard to imagine Van Gaal would have been in a worse position by now if he'd gotten the full support of the board a year ago, with or without spending 300 million in august. This team is helpless without Zlatan, but that's not a transfer policy, that's a one off. Both in his unique combination of skills and importance to a team, and in beeing without contract and fit. It's not like you can get another player like that when he's too old, which can't be long. And even with him it's not very good. You can get another player like Pogba including his ridiculous price, but paying those amounts of money doesn't prevent him playing like a headless chicken. He's got that in common with DiMaria, but the difference is he can't be sold on with less than a 15 million loss on it, it will be difficult to sell him on without losing more than 50 million. Maybe to a Chinese club, they don't have much understanding of football there yet.

But the Chinese spending spree is another reason why putting the emphasis on young players in general and local talents especially wasn't such a bad idea. Clubs that have a policy of buying the finished product for a lot of money will feel suffer the most from the Chinese. Trying to play posession football wasn't such a bad idea either, it is difficult in the PL, especially with players who have been playing in England for a long time, but I saw Real Madrid-Dortmund a few weeks ago and United isn't getting nowhere near that level with this kind of football.

I'm beginning to wonder if you've been watching us this season, helpless without Zlatan? Dear me.

 

[donkeyfish]

I'm indifferent towards van Gaal but I have this question:

Why is van Gaal the only manager in the world who is credited with laying foundations regardless of how successful or otherwise he has been?

I think it comes from his early career, when I believe he did some decent work by introducing new methods of training etc. Like that basketball coach he hired in Ajax (I think), to train footwork in a different way.

Despite his apparent rigidity, he has been quite open to new science and methods to improve performance. However, I am quite sure he isn't alone in doing such things. It was in one of the books written about him.

Not sure if anything like that happened at United though.

 

[Revan]

Perhaps I've exaggerated: he's definitely not as bad as Moyes for instance. He's around the level of a Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce or Mark Hughes.

That's nonsense. He is one of the most successful managers of all time and in his debut year he won more than those three managers won in their combined careers.

 

[fellaini's barber]

Moyes bought us Mata, I like his foundations better

 

[Robbie Boy]

This thread is fecking mental!

 

[SalfordRed1960]

I'm indifferent towards van Gaal but I have this question:

Why is van Gaal the only manager in the world who is credited with laying foundations regardless of how successful or otherwise he has been?

I think it boils down to ones interpretation of foundation.

Because the football was not entertaining, some have taken the view that means everything was shit. Some would argue that his purchases, by not playing now, are proof that the players are also crap.

An alternate view would be that LVG made the decision to get rid of players that were never going to make it in his view (Evans, Welbeck, Cleverley, etc...). He also replaced the players that had left due to age/retirement (Vidic, Evra, Rio ...) with younger players. Finally, he gave a chance to a number of other youth players by having a small squad. Others like Rashford were probably unplanned, they only played due to the likes of Wilson getting injured. In the end you have a more balanced squad in terms of age, experience and youth. That gives you a platform or foundation to build on. One could argue that this is what Rodgers had done at Liverpool, and has enabled Klopp to now put the icing on the cake.

That doesn't mean LVG gets credit for any success Jose success, just like none of the previous managers at Chelsea, Inter and Madrid get any credit for Jose success at those clubs.

 

[::sonny::]

Legacy of nothing

His legacy was 245 (backward) passes consecutive to score a goal, if there was a mistake in that 245 useless passes the squad couldn't score

His philosophy worked only with Ajax in the mid '90 and for a little period at Barça and Bayern

The master of targetless football

 

[Escobar]

There is no foundation. Jose had to do so much reshuffling, there is nothing left from LVG at this club except a couple of good and also poor players. Moyes was even worse

 

[Pexbo]

Mourinho made it absolutely clear early in the season that he was drilling risidual Vangle out of the players.

He couldn't have changed us much more in one summer.

Our key players are his signings in addition to Herrera who he has spent a long while getting back to his old rampaging, instinctual, risk taking ways.

 

[rpg]

There's no legacy with Lvg. Can't think of any. We didnt continue his possesion hogging style. Regarding transfers, I doubt he actually asked the club to sign any particular player, except for Bastian Sweinsteiger. All other players are scouted by the club and he only gave his consent. Poor Woodward has no manager to guide him so he bought any big names he came across.

 

[VP]

That's nonsense. He is one of the most successful managers of all time and in his debut year he won more than those three managers won in their combined careers.

It's hyperbole befitting this thread.

Generally though, and this a topic for another thread, assessing managerial quality, unless it's blatantly obvious like SAF's, is a futile activity. How much of LVG's success is down to having once-in-a-generation talents? I say, a lot. Ranieri, for instance, masterminded the greatest achievement in sport last season yet no one would dare suggest he's a managerial great.

 

[Shinehead Dred]

I think it's fair to say there are some supporters (cough cough) who would gladly watch the demise of the team or a failure of a player to make a point. Why fans think like this is beyond me, but threads like this tell this strange phenomena exists.

I mean I actually loved Big Ron and the team he created. How dare they sack him and replace him with Fergie.....

 

[R'hllor]

Perhaps I've exaggerated: he's definitely not as bad as Moyes for instance. He's around the level of a Tony Pulis, Sam Allardyce or Mark Hughes.

 

[TheSweeper]

I think it's fair to say there are some supporters (cough cough) who would gladly watch the demise of the team or a failure of a player to make a point. Why fans think like this is beyond me, but threads like this tell this strange phenomena exists.

I mean I actually loved Big Ron and the team he created. How dare they sack him and replace him with Fergie.....

The same was done when LVG was in charge? Cough cough. If anything if people are talking about foundations the last thing they want is the next manager to fail

Jose will be fine. He always would be fine & successful here whether it was Moyes he was replacing or LVG. The fact is to break the habit of his 3 year tenure he will have to one day FULLY trust the players that LVG bought through that deserve to be here. LVG showed a certain level of trust towards martial Rashford Lingard TFM Varela Pereira Poole & this would have only continued to include the likes of Tuenzebe & other potential stars.

If Jose does not utilize these players then ultimately he will struggle to provide us with the stability we as supporters and he as the manager of Manchester United; all crave.

These foundations aren't some work of genius - it's purely trusting & utilizing youth in to a system they find comfortable in.

LVG at Ajax- Kluivert & Co
LVG at Barcelona - puyOl iniesta xavi valdes
LVG at Bayern - Alaba schweinsteiger Muller Badstuber
LVG at United - Rashford Lingard TFM Valencia CBJ etc etc

How can people be so blind to the positives this guy brings especially when they include some of the best players in their generation attribute g their and their clubs success to LVG's foundation!

All these players were given debuts & given sustained chances to make an impression. Some were asked to change position & instantly became better.

As Lahm said - LVG brings a clear focus on tactics' when explaining who the farther of bayern s dominance arose from.

Whilst all you laugh and smileys'' about the fact that LVG & Tactics are said in the same sentence - it is important to realize just like Barcelona & Bayern we as a club was a club heading nowhere - no tactics & the players were poor in discipline. You compare this group of players to the one moyes was left with & it's batently obvious that this group of players are much better at following instructions and tactics no matter how awful they were.

When the right manager with the right tactics comes in; this equals to dominance.

Anyway the successful dominance of Barcelona & Bayern - soon to be united all follow the trajectory of LVG's CV.

Time to laugh boys because all you think that players are robots and they suddenly lose everything they have been taught. Sure the LVG lag is bad - but that lag comes about because of pressure to being focused on following tactics.

The tactics have changed but now the players have the right mentality of following them with the added benefit of having their own freedom.

No no lets just belive these supporters shall we forget the fact Xavi & Iniesta & Lahm would attribute the start of club dominance to him. How can people be so thick to believe their selves rather than the professionals they watch

 

[Stacks]

And who laid the foundations for making that happen? Jose might even be sending a text message to thank the man tonight.

Nice try. This is banter. The sad part is that only 2 Van Gaal players, are playing regular at the moment. Herrera and our LB be it (Blind or Darmian).

EDIT - and Van Gaal ruined Herrera and did not know how to use him.

 

[TheSweeper]

Nice try. This is banter. The sad part is that only 2 Van Gaal players, are playing regular at the moment. Herrera and our LB be it (Blind or Darmian).

EDIT - and Van Gaal ruined Herrera and did not know how to use him.

Bull. LVG focused on tactics that put too much pressure on Herrera & so many other players. The benefits of having to focus heavily on tactics whether they are back passing or sidewalks passing is a positive in any players ability. The tactics have changed, there is freedom but LVG was the man who turned the focus back on the players forcing them to play tactical football.

Think before you pass type football is not going to get the best out of anybody. However the tactics have changed & Herrera can play freely having the benefits of engaging in tactics better than he could have done before.

Rashford-Martial- Lingard - Valencia RB - TFM - Rojo - Blind - Shaw - Herrera are all in and around the squad. All LVG players.

 

[dove]

Anyway the successful dominance of Barcelona & Bayern - soon to be united all follow the trajectory of LVG's CV.

This. LVG is a genius, he left a great legacy behind him every time he was sacked so that when the new manager comes in, he doesn't need to change anything, just continue LVG's great philosophy and truly amazing attacking football. Everything Barca and Bayern achieved since LVG was sacked was due to great LVG's legacy.

Too bad his philosophy is to bore fans and opposition teams to death. All new managers who come in after LVG is sacked need to scrap everything. Legacy...

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

Some of the posts in this thread are just mind boggling

 

[Revan]

The same was done when LVG was in charge? Cough cough. If anything if people are talking about foundations the last thing they want is the next manager to fail

Jose will be fine. He always would be fine & successful here whether it was Moyes he was replacing or LVG. The fact is to break the habit of his 3 year tenure he will have to one day FULLY trust the players that LVG bought through that deserve to be here. LVG showed a certain level of trust towards martial Rashford Lingard TFM Varela Pereira Poole & this would have only continued to include the likes of Tuenzebe & other potential stars.

If Jose does not utilize these players then ultimately he will struggle to provide us with the stability we as supporters and he as the manager of Manchester United; all crave.

These foundations aren't some work of genius - it's purely trusting & utilizing youth in to a system they find comfortable in.

LVG at Ajax- Kluivert & Co
LVG at Barcelona - puyOl iniesta xavi valdes
LVG at Bayern - Alaba schweinsteiger Muller Badstuber
LVG at United - Rashford Lingard TFM Valencia CBJ etc etc

How can people be so blind to the positives this guy brings especially when they include some of the best players in their generation attribute g their and their clubs success to LVG's foundation!

All these players were given debuts & given sustained chances to make an impression. Some were asked to change position & instantly became better.

As Lahm said - LVG brings a clear focus on tactics' when explaining who the farther of bayern s dominance arose from.

Whilst all you laugh and smileys'' about the fact that LVG & Tactics are said in the same sentence - it is important to realize just like Barcelona & Bayern we as a club was a club heading nowhere - no tactics & the players were poor in discipline. You compare this group of players to the one moyes was left with & it's batently obvious that this group of players are much better at following instructions and tactics no matter how awful they were.

When the right manager with the right tactics comes in; this equals to dominance.

Anyway the successful dominance of Barcelona & Bayern - soon to be united all follow the trajectory of LVG's CV.

Time to laugh boys because all you think that players are robots and they suddenly lose everything they have been taught. Sure the LVG lag is bad - but that lag comes about because of pressure to being focused on following tactics.

The tactics have changed but now the players have the right mentality of following them with the added benefit of having their own freedom.

No no lets just belive these supporters shall we forget the fact Xavi & Iniesta & Lahm would attribute the start of club dominance to him. How can people be so thick to believe their selves rather than the professionals they watch

Good God, this shit again?

Iniesta played 6 times under LVG, Alaba played 9 times in 2 seasons under him (and 47 the following season, being arguably the best LB in the world).

He has some credit for Xavi and Puyol, as has for Muller, Badstuber and Schweinsteigering Schweinsteiger. But Iniesta and Alaba? Nothing.

At United he has credit for finding Rashford. And that is the end of the story.

Why on Earth is he the only manager ever who gets credit for other managers doing well after he fails at that same club? It is like Mourinho getting credit for Conte winning the title this season. A bunch of nonsense.

You get judged for what you do during your spell as a manager, not for what the next manager does.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

And so it starts the creation of a myth... Lets forget how poor we were for almost 2 years and I agree lets look at his legacy.

- Schneiderlin about to be sold because he is not even good enough to replace Fellaini (should say it all)
- Fellaini a starter under LVG when he had the chance to get rid
- Leaving out Herrera who turns out to be a consistently good performer under JM
- Turning down Kroos an opting for the gash mentioned above
- Darmian who has turned out to be a terrible player
- Falcao (ok ok that could have gone wrong for anyone)
- Playing Rooney over and over again despite his performances and not resting him


And lest we forget the mind numbing negative football with games ranging from 0 - 1 shots on target for all the majority of the season.

It has already started with people on here claiming that LVG should take credit for JM work by saying things like "their tactical understanding was improved under LVG". Despite playing completely differently in terms of style and system and the best players being new signing that did not get the chance to "benefit" from LVG's genius...

You can see how Pep is a slightly better LVG and that may only be because he had better players at City then LVG had at United.

 

[coolredwine]

LvG's stubbornness to play Rooney every game led to his fall.

Thread over.

 

[TheSweeper]

So easy to rile up the anti LVG supporters even though they are in a pro LVG supporters thread. It's like they constantly walk in to dog doo

 

[Infordin]

Most of the players who he has signed (Falcao, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Depay) have already left or are close to leaving

Almost everyone was excited about the Di Maria transfer at the time. He was a monster of a player in 2014. Nobody could have foreseen what did happen.

 

[Revan]

Almost everyone was excited about the Di Maria transfer at the time. He was a monster of a player in 2014. Nobody could have foreseen what did happen.

We are not payed to judge player's ability, the manager is. We also didn't talk with him to be able to know how much he wanted to come here. And finally, we didn't play him out of position when he was playing very well in his best position.

 

[spiriticon]

Louis Van Gaal's biggest positive was giving youth players a chance to show their stuff.

Apart from that..... His was the most boring football I have ever watched. Every game had 0-0 written all over it unless something unusual happened.

 

[Smores]

Feck me there's still some who believe. How is that even possible.

 

[Stacks]

Bull. LVG focused on tactics that put too much pressure on Herrera & so many other players. The benefits of having to focus heavily on tactics whether they are back passing or sidewalks passing is a positive in any players ability. The tactics have changed, there is freedom but LVG was the man who turned the focus back on the players forcing them to play tactical football.

Think before you pass type football is not going to get the best out of anybody. However the tactics have changed & Herrera can play freely having the benefits of engaging in tactics better than he could have done before.

Rashford-Martial- Lingard - Valencia RB - TFM - Rojo - Blind - Shaw - Herrera are all in and around the squad. All LVG players.

Bull. LVG isn't the 1st and only manager to implement tactics in case you haven't noticed. All managers have tactics. LVG tactics are just extreme and mundane. My conclusion is his style was alien and disruptive. Jose has rightly given them more attacking freedom like most managers do and given Herrera a different tactical role.

I don't see how the players you mentioned means he has laid foundations. Jose has taken over Man Utd, therefore the 2 managers will have many of the same players. My point is how many of them are 1st teamers we rely on? squad players doesn't equal "laying the foundations". foundations are the spine of the team or the ones you build the side around.