True, but obviously it took time for us to get our act together and my god did we get it.
United under LvG: verdict so far!
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Oh I'm aroused all right!
Ah this thread is great,specially in time when things did not look good.
What's that all about? I must've missed something because its all over his Twitter!
I've been wanting to say this all season but this recent set of results pretty much confirms it. We are Back!
yup, not to mention losing twice to Swansea...just stings
however, I'm simply delighted with LvG...big games look like his speciality...compare that to moyes last season...complete turnaround
It's because he admitted that he actually shat on the pitch at the WC in 1990. He's right about LvG though
Yeah I wasn't including Swansea as they're a decent side but we have dropped points against some utter dross. But yeah, I with you there mate, just buzzing at the was we are playing and being back in the Champions League next year.
He has turned it around in the last few weeks. I was not confident a few weeks back. He won me over today.
Brilliant, brilliant performance.
Brilliant, brilliant performance.
It's because he admitted that he actually shat on the pitch at the WC in 1990. He's right about LvG though
Ah right! Thanks!
Three points... 
And there it is! The last doubter has been converted
Van Gaal is a legend, you can just see he has something special about him, even before when we were playing shit football the team spirit was fantastic, top work rate, top pressing, engergy, passion, fecking get in.
The guy is a winner, as I have been saying since he became manager.
Mata, Fellaini and Young were all instrumental today, and played for us last season under Moyes. Only Herrera and Blind of the starting XI are new players this season. LvG has found a winning formula and keeping RvP and Falcao out of the team has a lot to do with that.
He was spot on. Villa was a nervier finish than City!
Not so bad, eh?
He is doing a Bayern job on us, he changed their way of playing football. Say what you want about him stumbling on the right formation and players by luck: the football on show is more than putting the right names on a sheet of paper. The movement to always create space and options for players under pressure to pass to, the tactics, their belief and mentality, the turnaround of the supposed crap players like Young and Fellaini who admit it is van Gaal who helped nurse them back into the players they can be, it's all his work.
We have had great footballers on paper and put in their right positions under Fergie as well, but he couldn;t get us to cope as elegantly with top 4 pressing games as van Gaal has done.
Look at us in the last three or four seasons during the Fergie era. Brilliant on the counter attack perhaps, but we were regularly overrun in midfield by the top four and could not cope with them pressing us.
Van Gaal has got us starting to play a possession game that we haven't seen ourselves execute in a long long time.
We have had great footballers on paper and put in their right positions under Fergie as well, but he couldn;t get us to cope as elegantly with top 4 pressing games as van Gaal has done.
Look at us in the last three or four seasons during the Fergie era. Brilliant on the counter attack perhaps, but we were regularly overrun in midfield by the top four and could not cope with them pressing us.
Van Gaal has got us starting to play a possession game that we haven't seen ourselves execute in a long long time.
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Stat attack of Moyes and van Gaal lol
He sorted himself out as well. Now he's acting like the manager I hoped he would be from the beginning. No more strange decisions and finally playing to our strength. Fair play to him and we play great football
Barring a catastrophic collapse he's done his job this season. More than that, we've been playing great football which is attractive to watch for the last month or so, and that's what I wanted most of all from a new manager. The fact that we've been doing it against some of our closest rivals is just the icing on the cake. I'm well pleased at the moment!
In fairness, ever doubting Mata was silly of me, he's proven excellent from his Chelsea days. But credit to only LvG for this insane resurgance of Fellaini and Young, even Valencia to an extent. Thrilled with the result.
Tottenham [x]
Liverpool [x]
Manchester City [x]
Chelsea you're next
Tottenham [x]
Liverpool [x]
Manchester City [x]
Chelsea you're next
Considering that Van Gaal seemed to have some serious problems with the board at Barca and Bayern which are very unlikely to happen at United as there is no one on the board who inteferes with the manager side of the club I wonder if he's enjoying it a lot more here. He has complete control for the duration of his stay and could be here for a while as it's very unlikely United will sack him unless he strays outside the top 4.
Pretty damn good transformation, just like a lot of us discussed pre season and early parts of the season. It takes time lads, every tom dick and Harry cant become a great coach or manager by just buying players and playing a formation, Also it's not a question of if only against Leicester or burnley or Swansea etc. etc. , it's a process of building little by little , it is LVG's Philo... Now get the feck in!
I don't fear any of the big teams under him, not even Chelsea next week. He'll work wonders for us in the Champions League too next season. I'm very excited to say the least.
We played some great football today its been quite a while since we have played this well in consecutive matches. Dutch Master at work.
In his final season Alex Ferguson got 20 points in 12 matches against the top third of teams in the league, Louis van Gaal has 20 points in 10 matches.
Alex Ferguson got 27 points in 12 matches against the middle third, Louis van Gaal has 20 points in 10 matches.
Alex Ferguson got 48 points in 16 matches against the bottom third, Louis van Gaal has 31 points in 14 matches.
This will be better done at the end of the season but for now it gives us an idea. I use this Ferguson comparison because in his final season he got 89 points and Louis van Gaal will need something similar if he is to win the league next season.
We know the philosophy can do it against the big teams, it seems good enough against the middle teams too, Ferguson however won every single match both home and away against the lower third of sides, that might be Louis van Gaal's challenge next season. When a side parks the bus and gives us little space to exploit, you need to find ways of getting goals right from the start of the season, we don't want to drop those points again and I think our attacking quartet will be important, the four creative players Louis van Gaal expects to make things happen, moments of individual brilliance might be needed here.
Alex Ferguson got 27 points in 12 matches against the middle third, Louis van Gaal has 20 points in 10 matches.
Alex Ferguson got 48 points in 16 matches against the bottom third, Louis van Gaal has 31 points in 14 matches.
This will be better done at the end of the season but for now it gives us an idea. I use this Ferguson comparison because in his final season he got 89 points and Louis van Gaal will need something similar if he is to win the league next season.
We know the philosophy can do it against the big teams, it seems good enough against the middle teams too, Ferguson however won every single match both home and away against the lower third of sides, that might be Louis van Gaal's challenge next season. When a side parks the bus and gives us little space to exploit, you need to find ways of getting goals right from the start of the season, we don't want to drop those points again and I think our attacking quartet will be important, the four creative players Louis van Gaal expects to make things happen, moments of individual brilliance might be needed here.
At the end of the day we can all see the class that Van Gaal brings. As Robben once said 'Man Utd will be lucky to have Van Gaal'...Never a truer word. Coco the Clown was a disaster last season but it's all good as Van Gaal is showing his true colors and Mourinho is basically a Van Gaal clone even if he doesn't admit it so we are in good hands and playing the right while at it
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O ye of little faith, I wish plech was around here to write a chapter on our supporters
...only if it's missionary!
Our football is back.
He made us solid first and we ground out wins. But now we are seeing a solidity as well as some fantastic play.
Last season we would have capitulated after the poor first 10 mins. This season we are showing a fight and team spirit that defined us under SAF.
He made us solid first and we ground out wins. But now we are seeing a solidity as well as some fantastic play.
Last season we would have capitulated after the poor first 10 mins. This season we are showing a fight and team spirit that defined us under SAF.
That was something I thought as well. The next step will be for Van Gaal to have solid plans on how to crack down those teams that will park the bus. After all, winning against the lower sides is as imperative as winning against top opposition in order to win the whole thing in England.
There does seem to be a great team spirit. Here are Rojo and Blind celebrating Smalling's goal. A starter and someone from the bench. A defender celebrating his positional rival's goal. Both are potential left backs and celebrating together. It's not always this way at every club.
In fairness, ever doubting Mata was silly of me, he's proven excellent from his Chelsea days. But credit to only LvG for this insane resurgance of Fellaini and Young, even Valencia to an extent. Thrilled with the result.
Tottenham [x]
Liverpool [x]
Manchester City [x]
Chelsea you're next
Would love to see the texts between Van Gaal and Mourinho ahead of that game. I'm sure both will be very eager to get one over on the other.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/12/manchester-city-manuel-pellegrini-manchester-united
Any locals catch him there?
Any locals catch him there?
I'm so thankful we won today, Louis can go and eat now without being ashamed
Enjoy their friendship while it lasts, at some point it could deteriorate. Prior to the champions league final Louis van Gaal played against Mourinho he said that Mourinho doesn't care for attractive football, 'we both play to win but I want to express good football, my way is more difficult than his'. I also recall reading he criticised him and Inter's approach to the champions league final, he feels football should be a spectacle for the fans.
This was interesting too:
Angel di Maria
On Van Gaal: “We get on very well, he was one of the reasons I came here. I’m very grateful to him because he wanted to sign me. That makes me happy. Also, he’s a person who wants to win all the time, and to take the club back into the Champions League as quickly as possible, so the focus is very much on that.”
On Mourinho: “He taught me many things, he made me grow as a player. He helped me to move to a new position, to provide more sacrifice to the team in general. I am very grateful to him. He said that at Real I should be a forward who in turn could also defend. I could not rest on every play when the opponent attacked us. Mourinho made me a better player.”
Juan Mata
On Van Gaal: “He has so much experience and I can learn a lot from him. He’s tough when he has to be. He says things in a firm way, intensely, but then he’s somebody who is very close with the players. He really likes to talk with us, to ask us what we think about the exercises that we do in training.”
On Mourinho: “For better or for worse, we had no relationship, there was no dialogue. I was not happy, but always gave my all and respected my colleagues. You never know what will happen in life.”
Arjen Robben
On Van Gaal: “He has been very important to my career. Along with Pep Guardiola, I can say he is the best coach I ever had. I have worked with Van Gaal at Bayern as well as with Holland, so I have known him for a very long time. He is one of the few coaches who can make teams play better. He makes players better.”
On Mourinho: “I think very highly of Mourinho. The thing about Jose is that he will win at any cost. He doesn't care how, he just wants to win. I've not always been supportive of the style of football he plays, but he is a winner who has achieved great success.”
Wesley Sneijder
On Van Gaal: “He trains his players very hard and always expects the highest standards. In the Netherlands, Van Gaal is something like the head teacher of a school. Not everyone is lucky enough to get into his good books.”
On Mourinho: “He is a very special person for me. As a coach he is incredible, number one. It was he who gave me confidence, and I enjoyed playing football like never before. And as a person he reaches you much more than in his role as coach. Mourinho is like a second father.”
The wings line on MOTD
I love him.
I love him.
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