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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

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i'd definitely stick with Van Gaal. there's a lot that needs to change at the club right now - players playing out of position, no real awareness of what our best team or formation are, the scattershot approach to transfers, the diving that's creeping in now, and the long ball tactics, as just a few examples. however, Van Gaal has a proven track record, and given time he will win things. when his teams play well, they are excellent to watch. at the moment he often seems to wear the expression of a man who can't quite believe what a shambles he has inherited. the money spent hasn't improved matters a great deal as it was spent in the wrong areas, so we've ended up no defence, and with players playing out of position, such as Rooney in midfield half the season, and poor Valencia at right-back. he's been doing a decent job there, going forward at least, but he's not a defender. a calamitous performance like today's was always going to happen sooner or later. also, the big money buys have been flops, frankly. Rojo and Blind have been okay, and Shaw and Herrera have shown flashes of potential, but Di Maria and Falcao have been hugely disappointing. i'm not sure either were Van Gaal's signings. it's painfully obvious Falcao wasn't.

i've changed my mind over the Di Maria sending off. of course he had to go. in a sense he was lucky to only get a second yellow card rather than a straight red. the ref did act like a bit of a diva, and i reckon he misinterpreted an attempt to get his attention as some kind of assault, but you just can't grab at the ref. Di Maria should have been ashamed of his dive (as should Januzaj), not arguing the toss. at the time i was getting frustrated with the ref's performance, as he seemed to be ignoring a lot of niggly fouls by Arsenal and penalising us. i blame it on the fact that i haven't slept for three nights due to my whole family contracting some kind of horror-show vomiting bug! i've cleaned up so much sick this weekend. even the bloody cats have been at it. not an ideal start to my week's holiday.

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Guest

Guest

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I wasn't being serious with my Moyes comment by the way. It was just a little joke based on the fact we could quite easily finish in the same position as last season, albeit having spent £150mil+ since then.

Van Gaal will have been with us a year by the summer, so he should already be well aware of where our problems lie. I'm expecting another big spend in the transfer window and that things will start to improve.

At the moment we just have to put up with it, there's just too many players at the club who don't fit in and nobody willing to take the lead. Other than moments of individual excellence, the team is gelling at all.

I honestly can't see us getting a Champions League place, so next season is the big one for me. I just hope LvG knows what he's doing.

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Bleeders

Bleeders

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I think it might be a step too far this season getting 4th. 4 of our next 5 games are against Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea. Certainly our points tally after that run will give us a clearer picture.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the return of the 3-5-2 for those games either, since aside from the City game, we took points in the other matches against those four using that system.

Felt we were out-Arsenaled by Arsenal. Traditionally, we've been quite comfortable against them in the past; letting them have the ball, just waiting for a mistake to capitalise on and exploiting them on the counter. Boot was on the other foot as it were last night.

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Steely

Steely

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I dont understand this faith in LVG and his 'Philosophy' of backwards passing, slow build up football.

His formation obviously doesnt fit in with the current set of players he has in his squad. A good manager would build around that squad he has rather than trying to squeeze them into a formation and positions they are not comfortable with.

How many players in the United squad at the moment are we seeing the best out of? Non that I can think of, beyond De Gea who has been sensational.

He has Mata, Di Maria, Rooney in his squad yet he plays Felliani in the hole, if David Moyes had lead with that he would have had ethergys burning outside of Old Trafford within a month of tenure.

People saying he needs time, surely you must be seeing something by this point he said himself judge me after 3 months, we are well beyond that, his Philosophy must have taken shape by now but to me the players look as lost as the manager, none of the players look happy to be playing under him, I just dont think what ever he is trying to go for is achievable in the premier league.

Its pointless getting rid of him now so close to the end of the season, if he doesnt get 4th surely he is gone but even if he does clinch a top 4 spot is that good enough for the money spent, the football United have been playing?

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V3zna

V3zna

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If Football Weekly is to be believed Ancelloti might be available soon as he'd be a definite step up from van Gaal.

Diego Simeone is bound to leave Athletico at some stage as well. His brand of football leaves a bit to be desired but his players always give 110%.

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toythatkills

toythatkills

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i'd definitely stick with Van Gaal. there's a lot that needs to change at the club right now - players playing out of position, no real awareness of what our best team or formation are, the scattershot approach to transfers, the diving that's creeping in now, and the long ball tactics, as just a few examples.

Obviously I'm on the outside looking in, so you'd have a better idea than me, but aren't all of those things specifically Van Gaal's fault? What does he need to do before you won't stick with him?

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Rev

Rev

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11th in La Liga. He can stay there.

They were 19th when he joined, he's (as expected) ticking along very nicely, taking the occasional scalp on the way. That's what he's always been good at.

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Trigg

Trigg

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Do you guys think you should keep LVG if you don't get top 4?

I do, because we've invested in him now. Doesn't make sense starting again with a new manager. I think he should be given the duration of his contract at least for this reason.

However, not sure what to think when he thinks Fellaini is a better striker than Falcao or Mata and that Valencia is a better fullback than Rafael. That shit is difficult to swallow for sure. Least he's started playing Rooney as a striker so there's always that.

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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

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Obviously I'm on the outside looking in, so you'd have a better idea than me, but aren't all of those things specifically Van Gaal's fault? What does he need to do before you won't stick with him?

we're all on the outside looking in, but most of the summer transfers seemed to have more to do with Ed Woodward than Van Gaal. Falcao really looks like something Woodward did to get the fans excited, Van Gaal's reluctance to pick him kind of shows this. i've heard ex-players say that he was playing Rooney in midfield to make a point to the board that he was short in midfield and overloaded up front, too. Shaw and Herrera were in place before Van Gaal took over. Di Maria is a mystery. i remember at the time we were confused as to why we were buying a winger to play in a 3-5-2 formation.

talking of formations, that is partly Van Gaal's fault, certainly. but you have to look at the players he has at his disposal. there's no way to fit that squad into a coherent formation where you're using all the best players in their best positions. we lack quality in some areas and have a surplus in others. we have three world class strikers, no decent centre backs (well, maybe Rojo) and one right back, who is perpetually injured.

the long ball tactics come from Van Gaal, but they're not how he wants to play football. this style of play is a means to an end, and have meant that we've kept winning or saving matches despite playing poorly. i think with another bout of reorganising the squad, buying and selling a few players (assuming Woodward can be reigned-in), players learning the style of possession football Van Gaal wants to play, and the fresh start a new season begins, we'll look a lot better next season. you have to remember that Van Gaal didn't have a full pre-season with the players, coming to the club late after the World Cup. of course between now and the end of this season we need to somehow keep the miraculous luck going enough to somehow scrape fourth, something that seems a long way away right now. we need Tottenham to start looking more like Tottenham, and either Liverpool or Arsenal to fall away a bit. they all look a lot better than us at the moment.

there are some other factors as to why i personally am not going anywhere near any LVG out bandwagon, as well. firstly, i quite like the guy. he's an endearing mix of honesty and eccentricity. secondly, i don't like the idea of constantly cycling through managers as if you're going to magically hit on some formula that suddenly transforms this team, with all it's problems, into world-beaters. that's not how it works. i wasn't calling for David Moyes' head this time last year, and it wasn't until he had clearly lost the dressing room that i started agreeing with Jon. thirdly, he does have a proven track record of winning things. ignoring pointless stuff like Super Cups and Charity Shield equivalents, he's won seven league titles, two cups, the UEFA Cup, and the Champions League. he knows what he's doing.

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Petrousgyre

Petrousgyre

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Di Maria is a mystery. i remember at the time we were confused as to why we were buying a winger to play in a 3-5-2 formation.

Di Maria played centrally for long periods with Real, particularly in his final season and to good effect. Odd that LVG hasn't tried him in a more central role, at least as far as I've seen.

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Trigg

Trigg

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Di Maria played centrally for long periods with Real, particularly in his final season and to good effect. Odd that LVG hasn't tried him in a more central role, at least as far as I've seen.

I'd argue that central midfield his is best position. Not behind a striker, but in midfield with a license to roam and run at defenders. Plays well wide right too though so who knows.

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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

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What a difference a goal makes. First ten minutes we're not marking properly at corners, giving the ball away, and having shots at our own goal. Since the goal we've looked like a decent team, scored another, and looked like we might take the game away from Spurs before half time.

By the same token of course, if we concede any time soon we'll probably go to pieces.

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