United under LvG: verdict so far!

[BennyBlanco]

I'm wondering if the United fans will ever take to LvGs tactical approach, this club has always been about swashbuckling attacking forward play, almost a carefree attitude in bombing forward and taking risks, players free to express themselves and so forth.
LvG, regardless of if his football is slow or more possession based than most would like, is the clear fact hes a far more cautious manager, his main strength being he knows how to grind out results, which is a great quality for a manager of a top side but will fans ever accept his cautious nature, you can already hear the frustration in the United crowd the last few games.

Im tempted to keep faith with him another year, even if we finish 5th, just for the fact he'd further be able to buy players to suit his system and enhance what we wants, coupled with his ability to grind out results, I think we'll be much, much better next year, with the added continuity and purchases.
BUT, on the other hand you hear the crowd.already getting on his back, which will become a crescendo of rage should we slip from the top four over the next few games as the cautious, restricted style will never suit, he could easily be gone at the end of the season, we have to temper the idea of getting rid with the fact we then need someone to come in who will actually play a similar brand of football that suits United DNA, and honestly its very hard to think of a choice worth taking the risk on, while realising we'd then have had 4 managers in 4 seasons and the potential upheval it could cause once again to our playing staff.

 

[Nick 0208 Ldn]

Because its natural to assume our manager will again invest heavily and now he knows exactly where the holes are in our team.
Anything other than this train of thought is just not logical.

Van Gaal may indeed wish to invest heavily again, but whether deserving of such financial support is another matter entirely. Simply put, has his management of the existing squad been good enough? I would interpret his appointment as one in which the board sought some certainty as opposed to a project, yet here we are in March and doubts remain.

How can you possibly say Moyes got more out of lesser resources? he took the same squad Fergie won the league with to 7th!

I struggle to think even a fan wouldn't have achieved the same

Lesser resources when compared to Van Gaal. To clarify that point further, i would say that the high-water mark achieved by last season's United (or that for which they were capable) was either equal to, or marginally better than which has been produced by the side under Louis.

 

[redevil2]

next 2 games are huge.
let's see what the feeling is on here after!
4 points would be big

4 points in two games is not a lot to ask, but it looks like it's enough to please everyone nowadays. Well, In a Quarter final against a usual rival, we couldn't produce a result, what is going to be the incentive for the next two games eh! We have players who have done great things, and now we only want 4 points in two games in order to quality for Europe. Sounds a bit sad but some people would condemn me for not being understanding its a transition. I just don't buy that. A transition for our club is not a 7th place plus no tin cups. One thing I can be quite sure though we wouldn't be lower than last season but that's never a thing for complacency. Some people must stop making excuses.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

How can you possibly say Moyes got more out of lesser resources? he took the same squad Fergie won the league with to 7th!

I struggle to think even a fan wouldn't have achieved the same

The same squad plus Mata and Fellani. So Moyes actually had a better squad than Fergie.

LVG lost a lot of senior players. The younger players in our squad were learning playing next to these senior guys for Fergie and Moyes. It is now obvious that they are not ready yet. We needed a influx of experience in the back line to give us a bit more stability. Even Evans has looked a bit lost without an experienced player. I think the midfield with Blind, Di Maria and Herrera are one player short of being a decent midfield.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

4 points in two games is not a lot to ask, but it looks like it's enough to please everyone nowadays. Well, In a Quarter final against a usual rival, we couldn't produce a result, what is going to be the incentive for the next two games eh! We have players who have done great things, and now we only want 4 points in two games in order to quality for Europe. Sounds a bit sad but some people would condemn me for not being understanding its a transition. I just don't buy that. A transition for our club is not a 7th place plus no tin cups. One thing I can be quite sure though we wouldn't be lower than last season but that's never a thing for complacency. Some people must stop making excuses.

I actually think 2 points is not so bad. It would mean 2 very hard games gone, at worst Liverpool would be equal points to us and Spurs 1 point behind. I could live with that. If we were to lose one and win one, I would go for a win against the Scousers.
I was confident of beating Arsenal yesterday, and but for a brain fart by 2 players I think we would have won. I fancy beating them in the PL. I have seen enough of Spurs to feel confident. They beat all the lower teams, often struggling, but have not looked that good against the better teams (the Chelsea game being an exception). Liverpool, getting points on the table, but as we saw against Bolton and Blackburn, they do go through periods of struggling themselves.
I agree 4 points is very possible, probably win & draw in that order.

 

[#07]

Mitten says only Di Maria is allowed to dribble in training. Everyone else has to stick to the 'philosophy' of rigid position play. No wonder our creative players look like fish out of water. If Fergie had this squad fourth place wouldnt even be an issue.

 

[marlowe78]

I'm wondering if the United fans will ever take to LvGs tactical approach, this club has always been about swashbuckling attacking forward play, almost a carefree attitude in bombing forward and taking risks, players free to express themselves and so forth.
LvG, regardless of if his football is slow or more possession based than most would like, is the clear fact hes a far more cautious manager, his main strength being he knows how to grind out results, which is a great quality for a manager of a top side but will fans ever accept his cautious nature, you can already hear the frustration in the United crowd the last few games.

Im tempted to keep faith with him another year, even if we finish 5th, just for the fact he'd further be able to buy players to suit his system and enhance what we wants, coupled with his ability to grind out results, I think we'll be much, much better next year, with the added continuity and purchases.
BUT, on the other hand you hear the crowd.already getting on his back, which will become a crescendo of rage should we slip from the top four over the next few games as the cautious, restricted style will never suit, he could easily be gone at the end of the season, we have to temper the idea of getting rid with the fact we then need someone to come in who will actually play a similar brand of football that suits United DNA, and honestly its very hard to think of a choice worth taking the risk on, while realising we'd then have had 4 managers in 4 seasons and the potential upheval it could cause once again to our playing staff.

The question I'm always tempted to ask is how do you think we would be doing if we played an attacking game with this backline? We played an attacking game in the last couple of seasons under SAF and conceded a lot, and that was with Evra, Vidic, and Ferdinand in the lineup. In the times this season that we've played with a more open attack such as the diamond, we have gotten pounded on the counter and De Gea has bailed us out countless times. The Premier League is using a consistent strategy against us now where teams let us have the ball until there's a feck up somewhere and they take a run at us. Every time teams came at us it looks like they'll score.

It's interesting because I'm in fear of what will happen should the fans revolt and LVG is gotten rid of because of it. I'm confident that he sees the weaknesses in our squad and will have an idea of how to fix them, he wasted no time in getting rid of players we had no use for in a short period over the summer. But the executive might decide to hit the panic button, get rid, and start us from square one yet again. So we could get a manager who needs another feeling out with the team, which means yet another year of the same backline and inferior players, putting us through the cycle yet again.

 

[Water Melon]

The question I'm always tempted to ask is how do you think we would be doing if we played an attacking game with this backline? We played an attacking game in the last couple of seasons under SAF and conceded a lot, and that was with Evra, Vidic, and Ferdinand in the lineup. In the times this season that we've played with a more open attack such as the diamond, we have gotten pounded on the counter and De Gea has bailed us out countless times. The Premier League is using a consistent strategy against us now where teams let us have the ball until there's a feck up somewhere and they take a run at us. Every time teams came at us it looks like they'll score.

It's interesting because I'm in fear of what will happen should the fans revolt and LVG is gotten rid of because of it. I'm confident that he sees the weaknesses in our squad and will have an idea of how to fix them, he wasted no time in getting rid of players we had no use for in a short period over the summer. But the executive might decide to hit the panic button, get rid, and start us from square one yet again. So we could get a manager who needs another feeling out with the team, which means yet another year of the same backline and inferior players, putting us through the cycle yet again.

Fans would revolt only if he does not finish in top 4, continues playing shite football and gets another blank cheque to fix the problem. Fans have their reasons and grounds for doubting Van Gaal. If the Board fire him, then, they will definitely have some solid reasons to do so, and they are fully entitled to. LvG has everything he needs at his disposal, and a top 4 finish is the bare minimum that he is struggling to achieve. At the end of the day, he has targets and obligations, if he fails we will be looking for another candidate. I, personally, am yet to understand what LvG is trying to achieve. It looks to me is that he is trying to implement some utopian tactics, which can not be fulfilled in real life. Its like talking about ending Israeli-Arab conflict or getting rid of corruption in the whole world, without being able to actually do that in real life.

 

[#07]

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blog...-the-man-to-blame-for-his-slump-123202983.html

 

[RedRover]

Bread today, starve tomorrow.
That kinda sums up your pragmatic suggestion and it makes no sense at all. It makes more sense to start from day dot teaching everyone the future and then having them help teach the new recruits as they come in. This wait "until we have all the players" before LVG starts to implement his vision is plain daft if you want to ever see a day when everyone at the club is singing off the same hymn sheet!

You're missing my point.

Your suggestion makes the assumption that its ever going to work. What if he can't find players to fit his philosophy, or who can get to grips with his system? What if the problem are the tactics themselves and not the players? He's brought players is who you assume he believed fitted what he wanted to do - but it seems they can't. What if the next players he brings in cant fit in either? Do you give him another £150 million the year after and repeat the cycle?

Most top sides play a certain way but what the vast majority of successful managers do is set their team up to get the best out if what they have and then bring players in to develop a system that suits everyone and allows players to perform - not come in and fit square pegs into round holes in the hope that it works.

What we have at the moment is making what quality players we have perform under par. Di Maria is not a poor player. Mata and Herrera have a lot of quality. RVP can do a lot better than he is. These are the players the team should be built around.

At the end of the day he was appointed to come in and fix a mess. I don't see any evidence that its happening - only that we have a potentially different mess next season if we don't finish top 4.

That and the fact that we're £150 million lighter and still need in defence, midfield, out wide and upfront is what really worries me.

 

[Fully Fledged]

The question I'm always tempted to ask is how do you think we would be doing if we played an attacking game with this backline? We played an attacking game in the last couple of seasons under SAF and conceded a lot, and that was with Evra, Vidic, and Ferdinand in the lineup. In the times this season that we've played with a more open attack such as the diamond, we have gotten pounded on the counter and De Gea has bailed us out countless times. The Premier League is using a consistent strategy against us now where teams let us have the ball until there's a feck up somewhere and they take a run at us. Every time teams came at us it looks like they'll score.

It's interesting because I'm in fear of what will happen should the fans revolt and LVG is gotten rid of because of it. I'm confident that he sees the weaknesses in our squad and will have an idea of how to fix them, he wasted no time in getting rid of players we had no use for in a short period over the summer. But the executive might decide to hit the panic button, get rid, and start us from square one yet again. So we could get a manager who needs another feeling out with the team, which means yet another year of the same backline and inferior players, putting us through the cycle yet again.

That's all you have to do at this LVG team sit back and wait for one of our countless back passes to be under cooked and in you go to make a name for yourself.

Yeah because the players he brought in in the January transfer window are such an improvement on the ones that were in the squad from August.

Oh I forgot we didn't bring anybody in because the squad didn't need strengthening.

 

[Feed Me]

Tactics that not even Van Gaal's biggest advocates can explain and awful football. He's got to go.

 

[redflash]

We simply need to stop playing risk averse football. This i believe is more down to the players than the manager or coaching. Too many of the current crop are happy to get through each ninety minuted simply doing a job.

For this to change we need players to start dreaming of greatness again and taking the risks required to achieve this.

That's what's gone missing since fergie retired in my opinion. We try to play safe and that is just not in the dna of this club.

Risk all to win, attack always and play football to entertain. If you fail just try harder I'd rather see us lose a few more games attacking teams than dominating possession by passing sideways and backwards

 

[BennyBlanco]

The question I'm always tempted to ask is how do you think we would be doing if we played an attacking game with this backline? We played an attacking game in the last couple of seasons under SAF and conceded a lot, and that was with Evra, Vidic, and Ferdinand in the lineup. In the times this season that we've played with a more open attack such as the diamond, we have gotten pounded on the counter and De Gea has bailed us out countless times. The Premier League is using a consistent strategy against us now where teams let us have the ball until there's a feck up somewhere and they take a run at us. Every time teams came at us it looks like they'll score.

It's interesting because I'm in fear of what will happen should the fans revolt and LVG is gotten rid of because of it. I'm confident that he sees the weaknesses in our squad and will have an idea of how to fix them, he wasted no time in getting rid of players we had no use for in a short period over the summer. But the executive might decide to hit the panic button, get rid, and start us from square one yet again. So we could get a manager who needs another feeling out with the team, which means yet another year of the same backline and inferior players, putting us through the cycle yet again.

I'm in full agreement with everything you wrote, what I fear most is another season of transition should we bring in another guy, with different ideas, another summer and season of tranisition in a row, the new manager buying his own style of players, leaving our squad completely disjointed with the playing staff chosen from potentially 4 different managers in 4 years, I think Giggs is the only guy who could step into LvGs shoes and not miss a beat, in terms of moulding the squad to a vision, already knowing each players strengths and weaknesses, and current team tactics strengths and weaknesses, any other manager would need time to adjust.
Though obviously Im not suggesting giving Giggs the job, as he doesnt have the track record at this point, but I mention him for the fact hes one of the only candidates whos already comfortable with United, the squad and the tactical approach and wouldnt need as much of a transition period.
LvG im actually fairly confident he knows what the team needs this summer to move further in his direction and address our weaknesses that hes trying to cover up with team shape and selections, though obviously he should be doing a lot better in terms of performances with the squad inherited (less so overall results).

I'm also in fear of the board hitting the panic button as you say, we have to take a step back as a fanbase at some point and realise losing Sir Alex was always going to be a biblical change for us, we have to be patient, giving LvG the summer and another 6months with the new players to show if he can build upon this season in the direction he wants wouldnt cost us too much in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Sandikan]

4 points in two games is not a lot to ask, but it looks like it's enough to please everyone nowadays. Well, In a Quarter final against a usual rival, we couldn't produce a result, what is going to be the incentive for the next two games eh! We have players who have done great things, and now we only want 4 points in two games in order to quality for Europe. Sounds a bit sad but some people would condemn me for not being understanding its a transition. I just don't buy that. A transition for our club is not a 7th place plus no tin cups. One thing I can be quite sure though we wouldn't be lower than last season but that's never a thing for complacency. Some people must stop making excuses.

Are you for real?

We're not talking any old two games, this is an in form Tottenham, and Liverpool away, who we very rarely got much joy at with a much much better team.

This isn't dumbing down of standards, this is a very tough two games.
Sort it out.

 

[Garethw]

I'm all for accepting we aren't as good as we used to be and can't expect to be winning things every year to be honest. The problem is that:

- No one's really expecting us to be at the same level we were under Fergie. Pretty much every United fan said top four was the aim at the start of the season. With the money spent, this wasn't and isn't an unrealistic target at all. A lot of people still say they'd accept it now in spite of the extremely poor brand of football being served up. Moyes would also likely have kept his job if he'd achieved this.
- The criticisms of Van Gaal are based on the frustrating way he is managing the team and the players. Most teams fans would complain for example if their primary go to tactic was hoofball, regardless of their expectations in terms of results. It's a poor way to manage and a poor brand of football to watch.
- All of our star players have again underperformed. One or two, you can put down to the players themselves. When it's every single one, and most of them are either not being used at all or being used out of position, then this is very very obviously a managerial problem. You don't blame the car for not performing well enough when the driver hasn't even figured out how the gears work.

I said imediately after deadline day that I thought top four would be a struggle because of our weird transfers...but I still expected a) a better brand of football, and b) the manager to know how he wants to use the players that supposedly he chose to sign.

My final straw with Moyes was when he signed Mata then admitted he didn't know what position to play him in. Van Gaal has done the same thing with most of his signings, including one he spent £65m of the club's money on. He's even done the same thing with players already at the club who have established positions.

If I could see the manager was managing the players effectively, or if, at the very least, there wasn't a massive mountain of overwhelming evidence that he wasn't doing this (Moyes, Van Gaal), I'd probably be more willing to cut some slack.

When you put Rooney in midfield, Mata, Herrera and Falcao (who you signed) on the bench, Di Maria wherever the spare leftover bit in the team is, and yet find room in the attacking part of your line up for the likes of Fellaini, then you have to produce results and performances to justify that...otherwise the only person to logically blame when it doesn't work, is you. No matter how much you try to shift blame and how many snarly excuses you make in your pre-match press conferences.

If you re-invent the wheel and the outcome is the wheel stops turning, it's not the wheel's fault, or the person who used it before, or the historical success of the old wheel placing a burden on the new one, or ok because the wheel might not turn but it still believes in you, any other shite like that. It's stopped turning because you did a shit job of re-inventing it.

Excellent post mate!

 

[roykeane19]

 

[Fully Fledged]

Cause you'll never be a sailor if your balls hang low.

 

[Moriarty]

Mitten says only Di Maria is allowed to dribble in training. Everyone else has to stick to the 'philosophy' of rigid position play. No wonder our creative players look like fish out of water. If Fergie had this squad fourth place wouldnt even be an issue.

If Fergie has this squad, we'd be toe-to-toe with Chelsea and in the semis.

 

[RedSky]

The only reason I'd want Van Gaal to go is it Klopp decided to come to us. Otherwise I think we need to give him another transfer window a full summer pre season and 6 more months to see if he can get it working. Then re assess the situation in December.

It'll be interesting to see how the board react should we finish outside of the top 4 given the positive backing in the summer.

 

[decorativeed]

It's been shit on a stick football all season, and last night was the result of all his ridiculous philosophy, rubbish decision making all boiled down into one inevitable feck-up: Sell a valuable, fast, dyed in the wool team player for peanuts to a major rival, tinker with the defence at any given opportunity, persist in chosing players who have nothing to offer any longer every match while far more talented players sit on the bench or turn out for the reserves as they are lined up to be shipped out in the summer, and who could have guessed the result of all that?

I expected Moyes to produce this kind of tumescent dross, but surely far more should have been expected of van Gaal. At least with Moyes we had a bit of sympathy for a nice guy out of his depth, but there's no defending what van Gaal has offered so far, and I've no desire to see it continue.

 

[RedFish]

You don't have to be a tactical mastermind to see that we were being pummelled on that right side last night with Sanchez running at Valencia one on one, after a quick crossfield switch of play. The warning signs were there early on and yet LVG didn't react to it. That's negligence ffs. To think we have Rafael on the bench adds insult to (non) injury. We bring off Herrera at balf time and then lose any cohesion in midfield and low and behold we create the square root of feck all in the second half. I'm lost for words. I cannot see where we are going with this team. I know we are waiting for the summer transfer window, but for the xxxx's sake, can he not make better use of the squad at his disposal ???!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[redevil2]

Are you for real?

We're not talking any old two games, this is an in form Tottenham, and Liverpool away, who we very rarely got much joy at with a much much better team.

This isn't dumbing down of standards, this is a very tough two games.
Sort it out.

As I said, our fans are easily pleased these days. Not blaming you. We might even lose or draw easily the next two games. But hopefully our players and manager still have some pride to play for, if not just for the position.

Peace.

 

[redevil2]

I'm all for accepting we aren't as good as we used to be and can't expect to be winning things every year to be honest. The problem is that:

- No one's really expecting us to be at the same level we were under Fergie. Pretty much every United fan said top four was the aim at the start of the season. With the money spent, this wasn't and isn't an unrealistic target at all. A lot of people still say they'd accept it now in spite of the extremely poor brand of football being served up. Moyes would also likely have kept his job if he'd achieved this.
- The criticisms of Van Gaal are based on the frustrating way he is managing the team and the players. Most teams fans would complain for example if their primary go to tactic was hoofball, regardless of their expectations in terms of results. It's a poor way to manage and a poor brand of football to watch.
- All of our star players have again underperformed. One or two, you can put down to the players themselves. When it's every single one, and most of them are either not being used at all or being used out of position, then this is very very obviously a managerial problem. You don't blame the car for not performing well enough when the driver hasn't even figured out how the gears work.

I said imediately after deadline day that I thought top four would be a struggle because of our weird transfers...but I still expected a) a better brand of football, and b) the manager to know how he wants to use the players that supposedly he chose to sign.

My final straw with Moyes was when he signed Mata then admitted he didn't know what position to play him in. Van Gaal has done the same thing with most of his signings, including one he spent £65m of the club's money on. He's even done the same thing with players already at the club who have established positions.

If I could see the manager was managing the players effectively, or if, at the very least, there wasn't a massive mountain of overwhelming evidence that he wasn't doing this (Moyes, Van Gaal), I'd probably be more willing to cut some slack.

When you put Rooney in midfield, Mata, Herrera and Falcao (who you signed) on the bench, Di Maria wherever the spare leftover bit in the team is, and yet find room in the attacking part of your line up for the likes of Fellaini, then you have to produce results and performances to justify that...otherwise the only person to logically blame when it doesn't work, is you. No matter how much you try to shift blame and how many snarly excuses you make in your pre-match press conferences.

If you re-invent the wheel and the outcome is the wheel stops turning, it's not the wheel's fault, or the person who used it before, or the historical success of the old wheel placing a burden on the new one, or ok because the wheel might not turn but it still believes in you, any other shite like that. It's stopped turning because you did a shit job of re-inventing it.

Can't agree more with you there.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

The only reason I'd want Van Gaal to go is it Klopp decided to come to us. Otherwise I think we need to give him another transfer window a full summer pre season and 6 more months to see if he can get it working. Then re assess the situation in December.

It'll be interesting to see how the board react should we finish outside of the top 4 given the positive backing in the summer.

It's funny because at the moment I could see the board wanting to perhaps give him until next Christmas to get it turned around if he can. But then again I can easily see fan pressure making them pull the trigger and removing him early. I think the Liverpool game is going to be pivotal for him, Lose that one and I think the pitchforks will be out from pretty much everybody forcing the board into making a decision.

 

[#07]

You don't have to be a tactical mastermind to see that we were being pummelled on that right side last night with Sanchez running at Valencia one on one, after a quick crossfield switch of play. The warning signs were there early on and yet LVG didn't react to it. That's negligence ffs. To think we have Rafael on the bench adds insult to (non) injury. We bring off Herrera at balf time and then lose any cohesion in midfield and low and behold we create the square root of feck all in the second half. I'm lost for words. I cannot see where we are going with this team. I know we are waiting for the summer transfer window, but for the xxxx's sake, can he not make better use of the squad at his disposal ???!!!!!!!!!!!

Brendan Rodgers has lost Suarez and is relying on cloggers like Toure, and Liverpool look miles better than us. It's pathetic. When we play the Scousers in two weeks I'm afraid they'll embarrass us, and we won't even be able to claim they did it with a world class player like Suarez.

 

[SkeppyRed]

People need to realise even a Fergie/Jose hybrid wouldnt do that much better with this squad. Too many average players in key positions unfortunately. 4-7th place is about right for a lot of them. Most of them in fact.

 

[arthurka]

Looks like the pressure is getting to him..

 

[The Law of Denis]

Looks like the pressure is getting to him..

He knows he is bullshitting, perfectly fair question.

 

[pascell]

If we get CL we will get new players and certainly wont play like this year.

That's easy to say, as is Moyes could've improved our performances of last season, if he'd of been given the £150m transfer kitty. Our performances haven't improved this season under van Gaal, that's with trying quite a few different formations, with players in different positions and yet still hasn't got it right. Next season could still be very similar to this season, if we buy another 3/4 players. They'll all need time to bed in and settle in Manchester, then there's learning the 'philosphy', whilst van Gaal tinkers even more trying to find the best 11 out of next seasons squad, we seriously can't afford that to happen.

 

[RedFish]

Apparently our worst midfielders are Herrera and Mata - normally that would be a good sign.

My problem is that I enjoyed the first half. I really did, there was a bit of life about us, a bit of pace. A proper match was underway. We still had most of the possession but we were trying to get somewhere and so were Arsenal. For 45 minutes I actually thought I was looking at progress, even at a team who might play better against teams who were playing to win (a good omen for our run-in).

However LvG has a fundamentally different view, so he needed to change things at halftime(I think he'd say more controlled, I'd say slower more predictable). The change I saw in the second half was I found rather depressing, even before the goal.

I still have this glimmer of hope that it may all just click, but it's getter harder to believe.

That's just it. First half, there was a purpose to our play. We were vulnerable, particularly down the right side but we still had some drive. However not only did he not try and counter the threat (which conceded a goal) he was directly responsible, by way of cack substitions, for making sure we were impotent as a creative/attacking force. It was like, we tried to be more in control, more defensive, by shunning creativity and adventure, only it just made us look shy and pitiful. LVG is transmitting the wrong message to the other teams and our own players. He could do worse that take note of Hererra's tweet prior to last night's FA cup tie. 'We are Manchester United, and we are not afraid'

 

[DomesticTadpole]

That's just it. First half, there was a purpose to our play. We were vulnerable, particularly down the right side but we still had some drive. However not only did he not try and counter the threat (which conceded a goal) he was directly responsible, by way of cack substitions, for making sure we were as impotent as a creative and attacking force. It was like, we tried to be more in control, more defensive, by shunning creativity and adventure, only it just made us look shy and pitiful. LVG is transmitting the wrong message to the other teams. He could do worse that take note of Hererra's tweet prior to last night's FA cup tie. 'We are Manchester United, and we are not afraid'

Good point, the manager is the one who is afraid, afraid of losing. Manchester United is about winning.

 

[redevil2]

It's funny because at the moment I could see the board wanting to perhaps give him until next Christmas to get it turned around if he can. But then again I can easily see fan pressure making them pull the trigger and removing him early. I think the Liverpool game is going to be pivotal for him, Lose that one and I think the pitchforks will be out from pretty much everybody forcing the board into making a decision.

Interesting! This game might become LvG's job saving opportunity! Oh well, he would think his job is quite safe though no matter how the season turns out. A win will save some face

 

[RedFish]

We simply need to stop playing risk averse football. This i believe is more down to the players than the manager or coaching. Too many of the current crop are happy to get through each ninety minuted simply doing a job.

For this to change we need players to start dreaming of greatness again and taking the risks required to achieve this.

That's what's gone missing since fergie retired in my opinion. We try to play safe and that is just not in the dna of this club.

Risk all to win, attack always and play football to entertain. If you fail just try harder I'd rather see us lose a few more games attacking teams than dominating possession by passing sideways and backwards

I think it's becoming more and more apparent that it is the manager.

 

[redevil2]

Good point, the manager is the one who is afraid, afraid of losing. Manchester United is about winning.

And yeah, there is a huge difference and the United way is always preferred. But the manager doesn't seem to appreciate that.

 

[Sultan]

We simply need to stop playing risk averse football. This i believe is more down to the players than the manager or coaching. Too many of the current crop are happy to get through each ninety minuted simply doing a job.

For this to change we need players to start dreaming of greatness again and taking the risks required to achieve this.

That's what's gone missing since fergie retired in my opinion. We try to play safe and that is just not in the dna of this club.

Risk all to win, attack always and play football to entertain. If you fail just try harder I'd rather see us lose a few more games attacking teams than dominating possession by passing sideways and backwards

That's LvG's philosophy at play.

 

[BennyBlanco]

And yeah, there is a huge difference and the United way is always preferred. But the manager doesn't seem to appreciate that.

You have to take into account hes a realist, not an idealist like Cruyff or similar, Mourinho has the same streak, realist, they care for results first and foremost, how they achieve them is secondary, right now it seems pretty obvious LvG has abandoned most of the principles of good football in order to what he believes will be most effective to finishing 4th for the time being.
The reality is, he knows he has to get in the top 4 this year, if he doesnt his long term project is dead in the water before it gets going.

 

[Tibs]

He's not the man for the job.

 

[SammyUnited_83]

Simple yes or no, if there was a chance to bring Fergie back, strictly on the basis of managing us until the end of the season, would you take it?

 

[Oneunited26]

the terrifying thing is? maybe there is no real solution

Correct - Mourinho was the ONLY man to take over from Fergie. This will be one of the biggest cock ups by the board!!

Sir bobby charltons reason for not going for mourinho, probably adds to the cock up