A good piece in the paper today.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...sons-champagne-football-that-era-is-over.html
Good article. But I did start reading and thinking, no Gary this is nothing to do with comparisons to Fergie. In fact I'm hard pressed to think anyone ever making that comparison in their criticism of LVG. It's thr basics of the game which he is being pulled up on. The kind of simple things you would expect ANY manager to do, that he is being questioned on. But Neville goes on to cover those points and offer an opinon which I havent heard before and it's a well wriiten article with some very good points.
He does offer some good points. Also misses out the other truism of management, which is that what has been stable for the longest is often the hardest to change. Utd haven't just had 26 years of successful, attractive, attacking football, we've also had 26 years of incredible stability, given what the rest of football has been like over that period. It will always take our players, and the club as a whole, longer to adapt to the changes associated with a new manager when compared to those of Chelsea, for example, where there's a new manager every year or two with associated changes to style and approach.
I personally could not give a toss how we play aslong as we're getting good results. Whilst results haven't been terrible, they've not been great either, we have had far to many draws for my liking. After spending 150 million he should be doing better, when you take the money he has spent into consideration he's not doing any better than Moyes. His tactics are bizarre, he doesn't seem to have a clue what he is doing. 352 one week, 442 diamond the next with players playing in various different positions. It seems to me after over half a season in the job he still has no clue what his best tactics and system is. I look at the signings he's made, and I struggle to come up with even 1 that's been a success for the money we paid. Yes Di Maria has been pretty good, but we paid 60 million and I'm not convinced he's proven to be worth that much. We actually played our best football when all of his summer signings where out injured, as he had no choice but to play players in there correct positions. When everyone is fit he just try's to accommodate all his big name players, by just throwing them all on the field together without any thought for the balance of the side. RVP and Falcao are both loan strikers, they don't work as a pairing as neither are good at or want to drop deeper. Rooney and Mata can't play in the same team together, as they are both number 10s. Rooney is not a central midfield player. The only time we actually look threatening in games these days is when we bring Fellaini on as a last resort and start hoofing balls up to him. This isn't the prettiest tactic, but it is a very effective tactic. This is why we draw so many games as it's a very effective tactic that has dug us out of a fair few holes. The Fellaini long ball tactic is the only tactic that LVG ever has any success with, but for obvious reasons he only ever has the balls to use it as a last resort, he will never start with it through fear of criticism. Maybe if he actually started with a balanced side in the first place, he wouldn't have to resort to hoofing balls up to Fellaini to salvage draws on a regular basis
Then why watch football at all? Why not simply switch on the telly at 4.45pm on a Saturday and just check the results?
I get enough enjoyment from watching us winning games. The tactics don't bother me aslong as the team is winning. When we are not winning that is when I'm not happy
Out of 90mins you'll enjoys the few seconds it takes to score. You never heard the saying 'the thrill is in the chase' KS?
Obviously it is nice to watch good football, but if he win 1-0 every week and only have 1 shot at goal I wont complain. Il never complain when the team is winning
please log in to view this image All you lot do now is say Fergie did this, Moyes did that so rat face has a point, you should be grateful to have the philosopher of all philosophers and move on. Appreciate his printed stats that prove fat Sam wrong, appreciate his philosophy in playing Rooney DM, just appreciate the sock with sandals combo tactical genius and stop harping on about the past
Not so keen on stats, but i do appreciate his philosophy and the fact we are 3rd in the league and FA cup quarter finalists without playing to a third of our ability. Once things come good you may appreciate it too
Awesome, will be remebered for years to come, write a book? We got to the semis in the league cup #trueachievements
Erm, stop going on about the past? It isnt allowed you know Moyes won a charity shield though didnt he? true achievements Anyway Diego good night my amigo, much love
It is saturday morning and I am going to be pedantic... I agree with many points you make. His tactics are bizarre yes. Playing Rooney as a deep lying midfielder, playing Di maria centrally just behind a striker when he should be in the wings, are just a few of the baffling stuff that he's done. But just because we don't undertand it does not mean he is wrong in all of those. He may be working something out which we may not be aware. I hope so. A more balanced analysis will find that Young and Valencia have improved under him for example. I was a fan of Moyes and even I have to recognise that LVG has improved the team compared to DM. Now whether he has done it by £150m worth is up for debate. How much improvement should that amount bring? Bearing in mind that United as a team was rubbish and sliding fast. We have to accept that a team like Swansea or Southampton (with all due respect to them) might improve their squad significantly by spending tens of millions, United will always have needed to spend hundreds of millions. That's the reality of the market. To say that the long ball to Fellani is the only successful tactic is an exageration. He has played well against some teams without Fellaini. But one thing about this United side which has returned and had gone with DM was the refusal to lose a match. yes, there have been too many draws but he is not afraid to make changes to get a result. And he will play long ball if he has to. We are match 26 into the season and if he maintains his form we could get into the CL. Irrespective of the amount he spent that would be a significant achievement. With United over the years, money has not always guaranteed success. Not only moyes but Big Ron, Sexton, Docherty all bought expensive players but could never blend them into a title winning team. Ferguson did that after 6 years of trying. Those who expect a failing team to become a title winning one overnight even after spending £150m are -shall I say it - deluded. For me too the results and points are much more important than performances. In the later stages of SAF reign, I wanted to enjoy watching United. This season all I want are the 3 points. The performances will come later, absolutely no doubt about that.
Results will always be much more important than the performance,otherwise the league would be awash with kevin keegan clones. For me i dont think Utd have played an attractive brand of football for quite a while,certainly preceding Moyes' poisoned chalice months,but with the vast amounts of money in the game now,the performance has to take a back stage to the end result. If Chelsea opened up and became more expansive,i very much doubt they would be sitting on a 7 point lead,the smaller teams are much stronger and more tactically aware than theyve ever been and are liable to pick you off on the counter with any type of gungho approach. Probably the polar opposite of gungho was Moyes,particularly at home,where you could feel the fear and weakness tactically,especially if Utd took the lead and gave the opposition the impression they were there for the taking. Van Gaal seems to be somewhere in the middle for now Odd though he is,Van Gaal is keeping utd firmly in contention,surely thats as much as you could ask for,following the turmoil of the Moyes tenure?
Pretty much my thoughts. I don't get the whole argument that LVG is only doing as well as Moyes because he spent more money. In what universe is spending about £70 million to take a title winning side to 7th equivalent to spending £140 million to take a 7th place side up to third? It's not like Moyes didn't have money to spend, he just ****ed around a bit too much trying to work out what good players to bring in, then left it too late to get any of them. The key test for LVG will be next season. He's had his chance to experiment, work things out, and pick over the mess we were in last season. Next year he's going to have to show the potential to put together a title challenge, and deliver on that potential in the following seasons, if he's going to prove a success for us.
