United under LvG: verdict so far!

[gooDevil]

It's been a troublesome start in so many ways.

Van Gaal didn't have the summer to consider transfers and assess players.

Falcao, di Maria, Blind, Rojo and Shaw all missed our pre-season, and we're also bedding in Herrera.

Not to mention van Gaal is bedding in himself.

Then we have an injury plague worthy of our worst years under SAF. Rooney gets himself suspended for 3 1/3 games and then we lose Herrera for whom we have no natural cover.

Meanwhile Mata is in poor form and Evans is even worse, when not injured himself.

I doubt van Gaal has gotten the sort of rhythm he wants and needs to imbue his philosophy upon his players. It hasn't helped that injuries compelled him to use a 352 formation for many games.

I hoped for more like most after our pre-season, with the relatively light schedule it looked like an opportunity. Unfortunately the above forces far outweighed the advantages.

All that being said, I'm confident in van Gaal. Players want to play for him and ours are very eager to adapt and succeed. There can be little doubt we have the attacking quality to start destroying teams when it all starts to click.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Yea one major issue with our squad is that we have a load of players who are very system specific. Now if one gets injured, that system gets rendered less effective and we have to try something different and there's reduced cohesion

 

[LeftyBlaster]

Very happy with him at the helm. We haven't kicked into a rich vein of form, but that's understandable given the time needed for his philosophy to set in, playing with a load of youngsters and an inexperienced defence. Not to mention that we will need reinforcements because our second options at midfield are absolutely woeful. We are showing levels of progress not seen under Moyes last season; we have a clear and established direction that's being communicated to the players and it's slowly reflecting in our play. Still a work in progress but it's been a far cry from 6 months ago.

 

[legball]

Did you read the thread title ' verdict so far' not 'verdict in 5 months time' or ' how do you think he will do'? How is out of order to suggest to so far it has been a disaster when you have played (besides us) a first 8 games that some sides may have expected to get a full 24 points from? Im not suggesting he will be a disaster, far from it because im sure he wont but
its as if some guys cant help but have to be overprotective of him and keep on about how its going in the right direction and signs of improvement etc. Fine, thats true I don't dispute that, but the OP was asking how we thought he had done up untill now which does not include any upturn that will happen in the next 6 months or more.

It has not been a disaster because of context. You don't just throw up results in isolation, you have to consider every facets of the club that he has an actual influence on. It's bang out of order to say it has been a disaster. There's no such thing as being over-protective, he doesn't need my protection. The results have not been good so far, I haven't seen a single poster who haven't sad that. However, people have said there are improvements in other areas, yet, you're banging on about how its the players and not him, and stuff like that.

 

[legball]

Look at my post above, I'm in the we're in a good trajectory brigade.

But in regards to Bob's statement, I can see where he's going, that it isn't as rosy as we painted it to be. I'm not taking anything because the table says we're 8th, I'm not even worried. But from a Chelsea point of view, we are far from great.

Put it like this, if Chelsea's mourinho is in our position, them fans will say they'll claw back because of mourinho, but it wasn't out of order when we say the result hasn't been great for them.

Results haven't been great, everyone agrees with that. But calling it a disaster is taking it too far, that's why I said its bang out of order.

 

[legball]

Nani and Cleverly out.

Di maria, Falcao, Herrera, Rojo and Blind in.


80 percent of the change was the players

Let's just bring in Ian Dowie to manage the club then and let's see how that will pan out. Sign whoever you want, but it's the job of the manager to get them playing a certain way.

 

[shamans]

Let's just bring in Ian Dowie to manage the club then and let's see how that will pan out. Sign whoever you want, but it's the job of the manager to get them playing a certain way.

That's not what I said. I'm just addressing the people who said that the players are fine, they were champions last season etc etc. We had a REALLY weak squad and I doubt Van Gaal could've done anything with that squad. It's not Van Gaals fault. That team was just not PL top 4 quality.

 

[Red Dreams]

we have improved and are improving. He has done a fine job.

the team is fun to watch.

 

[golden_blunder]

god, if i hear the word "philosophy" once more in the context of football i'll implode. It seems to be the only word LVG is capable of saying, its like a disease that has spread to the players and fans

 

[ItsEssexRob]

god, if i hear the word "philosophy" once more in the context of football i'll implode. It seems to be the only word LVG is capable of saying, its like a disease that has spread to the players and fans

When I hear it I always think of Timon and Pumbaa.

 

[Manucho the boss]

To put it simply we've bought better players than we had last season but the results haven't been better. A few factors causing that in my opinion, LVG new to English football, several new players coming from a very different league in Spain and finally injuries/young players not stepping up.

I'm a bit more encouraged by what I've seen in the last 2 games, more so than the games against West Ham and Everton where we got 6 points but were very lucky to hold on, playing nervous football you'd expect a lower league team to play.

People are talking about us having turned the corner, but I think that's premature, the corner is in sight now at least but failing to win either game out of a home game and away to West Brom is certainly not what this club deems as successful. I think the 2 late goals maybe made it feel like a victory but still only 2 points.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I'm actually surprised on how much our central defence has regressed, post addition of Blind too.

Don't advocate buying there though.

 

[ItsEssexRob]

I'm actually surprised on how much our central defence has regressed, post addition of Blind too.

Don't advocate buying there though.

I dont think Rojo has helped there though, makes the defence look a lot less organized and chaotic. Having a stable line up will probably help.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

I dont think Rojo has helped there though, makes the defence look a lot less organized and chaotic. Having a stable line up will probably help.

Yup. We should stick with two of Jones/Smalling/Evans there and use Rojo/Shaw in LB only.

 

[Revan]

Yup. We should stick with two of Jones/Smalling/Evans there and use Rojo/Shaw in LB only.

Rojo ain't great at left back position. As long as Shaw is fit, he should play there.

I think that Evans and Rojo should find for LCB. Evans is right footed but he has played always there and has a very good left foot. Alternately (and especially if he continues being injured) we should look to offload him and sign someone else (cough cough, Laporte).

 

[Adebesi]

god, if i hear the word "philosophy" once more in the context of football i'll implode. It seems to be the only word LVG is capable of saying, its like a disease that has spread to the players and fans

I think a key part of the philosophy is saying philosophy a lot. The more you say it the better you understand it. I think it's working... But to be honest I think I'm going to have to say it loads more times before I really get it.

 

[Revan]

god, if i hear the word "philosophy" once more in the context of football i'll implode. It seems to be the only word LVG is capable of saying, its like a disease that has spread to the players and fans

Look at the bright side of it. He could have used the word 'project' instead, which drives me crazy everytime I hear it being spoken in relation with football.

 

[hundred_trillion]

Rojo will build a partnership with the least-injured right centre-half and we'll go from there. Can't expect defensive solidity from a back four that is forced to change every week.

 

[NoLogo]

I'm not his biggest fan and results aren't exactly overwhelming but the past has shown that LvG's teams are usually slow starters so I'm not going to judge his stint at our club after 10 games or so. I'm holding off my judgement until the end of the season.

 

[Getsme]

Look at the bright side of it. He could have used the word 'project' instead, which drives me crazy everytime I hear it being spoken in relation with football.

Hate hate hate that word being used in football.

 

[Getsme]

I'm not his biggest fan and results aren't exactly overwhelming but the past has shown that LvG's teams are usually slow starters so I'm not going to judge his stint at our club after 10 games or so. So I'm holding off my judgement until the end of the season.

This is it, yes we could have got a manager who would give us a quick fix but we would be back where we started if not worse off in a few years’ time. LVG is changing the way the Club has been run for many years, he has completely transformed the team in both personnel and how we play on the pitch, that is obviously going to take time to complete. I think we are in a good position into get into the top 4, that has to be the main aim this season, then next season we will be challenging for title, of that I have no doubt.

 

[ivaldo]

Its clear as day that we are going somewhere, the football is miles better and if it wasn't for our crippling injury list I have no doubt whatsoever we would be top 3. We've had far more injuries than any other team and still have 10 out, again more than anyone else.

 

[Sampy93]

Feel so much more confident about our future with him in charge for sure! He has brought a visible change to the way we play and I'm liking it so far, yes we haven't been firing on all cylinders yet but I'm super confident that sooner rather than later we will be back where we belong.

 

[legball]

One thing though, so, the constant injuries of last season were not really down to Moyes and his dinosaur training regime [as many called it back then]. I want to imagine that these injuries are not simply down to luck, there must be something about our preparation, facilities and training regimes that bring about these injuries, it's something I would like LVG to look into and try to address.

 

[Manucho the boss]

Strangely enough the best football we've played was in pre season and we've gone backwards since then even though we've bought better players. Not sure why this is, maybe LVG gave them a temporary boost when he came in.

 

[golden_blunder]

Look at the bright side of it. He could have used the word 'project' instead, which drives me crazy everytime I hear it being spoken in relation with football.

Thish project, it may take 3 yearshh until the playerssh understand my philosophy"

aggghh

 

[Massive Spanner]

Strangely enough the best football we've played was in pre season and we've gone backwards since then even though we've bought better players. Not sure why this is, maybe LVG gave them a temporary boost when he came in.

Or, the simple answer, pre-season is just pre-season and absolutely no comparison to the actual PL. If anything it lulled them into a false sense of security.

 

[Deleted 20801]

but to rate LVG so far you would have to be insane to rate it as anything other than a bit of a disaster.

 

[Roboc7]

Strangely enough the best football we've played was in pre season and we've gone backwards since then even though we've bought better players. Not sure why this is, maybe LVG gave them a temporary boost when he came in.

Pre season games are just meaningless matches with the emphasis on getting fit rather than tactics etc, we took them more seriously than the opposition because players were out to impress so it made us look better than we actually were and that combined with the excitement of appointing a top manager and the fixture list meant expectations were too high.

The manager inherited every single problem Moyes had plus all the problems Moyes created either by doing nothing or by his poor management, that combined with a late start, late signings, a high turnover of players, an injury crisis and a manager who had a limited knowledge of the league and players meant it was always going to be tough initially. He could have done better but he has made an impression on the team and there is at least the potential and signs of significant improvement going forward, we never had that under Moyes, in fact it was the opposite.

We can’t assume he will be successful but there is more to believe in than just blind faith or hoping he turns it round because he works hard and is a nice guy, I feel he is still learning about the league and the players and probably wants to make a lot more changes on and off the field so we might have to wait until the second half of the season to turn the corner.

 

[ItsEssexRob]

What you laughing at boy? You asking for a 1vs1 on the tiny map tonight?

 

[Deleted 20801]

Sure. I hope you see more improvement in me than LVG's influence so far mind.

 

[Minimalist]

Strangely enough the best football we've played was in pre season and we've gone backwards since then even though we've bought better players. Not sure why this is, maybe LVG gave them a temporary boost when he came in.

This is a really dumb way of looking at things.

Pre-season is not true competitive football. Judge things from the first game of the PL season and we have definitely improved, albeit it has been a bit of a rollercoaster at times.

 

[RedFish]

Very happy with our progress. From where we were before Van Gaal took over compared to our current position, we are miles ahead in so many aspects of our football. Finally we have well thought out, learned, strategy. The players seem to be improving under his tutelage and although with ups and downs as the learning process is bedding in, there is a sure progression forward. I think with him at the helm there are some really good times ahead!

 

[kopviolator]

To early to pass judgement isn't it… I mean we spent trillion pounds in the summer and our beginning of the season is on par with last year, except we've had easier program. Even van Gaal would probably admit that the results so far have been disappointment. Having said that, there are signs of improvement.

 

[Escobar]

To early to pass judgement isn't it… I mean we spent trillion pounds in the summer and our beginning of the season is on par with last year, except we've had easier program. Even van Gaal would probably admit that the results so far have been disappointment. Having said that, there are signs of improvement.

I'm feeling so much better with LVG than Moyes (even after 8 games or so), I cant even find the right words

 

[togg]

What you laughing at boy? You asking for a 1vs1 on the tiny map tonight?

Hey...I think "disaster" is a bit over the top considering the kind of football we were playing last season and the lack of confidence throughout the team that was bloody obvious. Not saying the results are great, but there is definite progress in how we are playing and there is no doubt that the confidence and understanding of what LVG wants to achieve is beginning to permeate the brains of the footballers...and that is no mean feat in itlself!

 

[MDFC Manager]

Strangely enough the best football we've played was in pre season and we've gone backwards since then even though we've bought better players. Not sure why this is, maybe LVG gave them a temporary boost when he came in.

Just to add to what's been said in reply to this, in hindsight, we only really played well in 2 or 3 of the pre season games. The others were decent but unspectacular performances.

 

[tombombadil]

Oh come one guys. It's still early days. LvG has brought a new philosophy to the club. It will take some time but this new philosophy will eventually embed itself in the players and once that happens, this project will take off!! This is a major project LvG is taking on here rebuilding the team.

 

[Garethw]

Why is it that the new Manchester United manager always needs months and months and months before their style (philosophy :-) ) is implemented fully? Yet the likes of Martinez at Everyon or Koeman at Southampton get the team playing their way almost straight away?

It's even more shocking when you consider the calibre of players at United in comparison to those teams.

 

[DevilRed]

Why is it that the new Manchester United manager always needs months and months and months before their style (philosophy :-) ) is implemented fully? Yet the likes of Martinez at Everyon or Koeman at Southampton get the team playing their way almost straight away?

It's even more shocking when you consider the calibre of players at United in comparison to those teams.

Expectations can sometimes be crippling to a team/manager. Last year was a prime example of that.

Old Trafford had an atmosphere around it that was completely unique to me. Just lots of tension and anxiety amongst the supporters which (I believe) translated itself onto the pitch and the players.