We couldn't though. It is pure luck that Liverpool ****ed up, nothing else. If you think it's a sign of a great manager to completely rest on his laurels and allow the team to relax before the job is done then good for you.
Ah. Pure luck eh? Nothing to do with them being poor all season and barely scoring a goal? Suddenly they were meant to turn into Barcelona and sweep all aside... How unlucky that they continued on much the same as they have all season.
Ah right, he knew they wouldn't take advantage so we deliberately lost three on the bounce. Good to know, the man is clearly a genius.
No one could persuade me that I wasn't ****ing right to be worried. Even when we were 7 points ahead with 6 matches to play. United's ability to **** it up by themselves is second to none...
What are you babbling on about now? First its only down to luck, then we deliberately lost 3 games... What rubbish will you come up with next I wonder. Im going to go with us paying the FA, owning the refs, cheating is the only way we win or one of those other classics.
Irony! But, to answer your question, it is only luck that Liverpool failed to take advantage. You seem to be saying van Gaal knew they wouldn't, therefore it was perfectly natural to assume we'd reached top four and that it's all ok to lose three in a row and not score in doing so. It's not ok. It's worryingly poor management. We should have pressed on in the same manner until top four was absolutely guaranteed, not take our foot off the gas and lose three games on the bounce Considering Liverpool were playing Hull and West Brom the only ****ing babbling is the person who thinks it's obvious that they would lose those games at this stage of the season.
It is not luck that Liverpool continued as they have all season. It is not luck that we have beem ahead of them all season. It is not luck that we have scored more and conceded less than Liverpool. Also, do you really think we took our foot off the gas? We went away to Chelsea and outplayed them. We lost but certainly didnt lie down, we were completely out thought at Everton and dominated West Brom. Didnt see any signs of us giving up as of its over. Just games where we lost, sometimes undeservedly so.
It IS obvious that's why. #realist He even said we needed 1 point before the Livpl Chelsea game. So much for winning our last 2 games. Great message to our players also.
So he was being factually correct then? Im also sure he only communicates to the players via his tv/media interviews. Its not like he fines players for being a few minutes late or has a history of accepting nothing but full commitment from his players. But yes. He said we need just one point now. Good of you to suddenly take what he says as gospel though. You dont like him, for whatever reason that is and will use every reason possible to slate him. Even being miserable all season. Thats fair enough. I was the same under the clown (i cant remember but I am guessing you were firmly 'moyes in'). Its not good though. Cheer up. Smile and dont take everything so seriously.
Go have a lie down mate Simply pointing out that the "resting on his laurels" comment earlier can be backed up by HIS own words. Had that been Moyes you'd have slated him for it. We got lucky that Liverpool fcked up those 2 games. It's NOTHING to do with not liking LVG for goodness sake.
Liverpool got lucky that we ****ed up 3 games. So did Arsenal, City, Chelsea.... All very lucky. If Moyes had said, we only need a point.... We wouldnt have been atrocious and dropping like a sack of bricks. He didnt even come close to doing well enough to need just one point. He would still be in a job. Is van Gaal wrong or not. Do we need one point or not? Does him saying as much, mean he is aiming for just one point?
From an outsiders if not completely unbiased point of view I would lean towards LVG detractors, it's not been the best of seasons for him but to be fair it is his first. You are fourth on merit and deserve to be where you are, has luck played its part? Yes as at times as you've been awful and the winning (sort of) formula that LVG found was almost forced on him by injuries and was not a moment of tactical genius. You had a run at the right time and again to be fair you deserved that group of wins against top opposition, credit where due. We've been awful for most of the season and also hit a run of form but then lost crucial games and had loss of form at the wrong point. The fact that we've got close to getting that 4th spot certainly means that all is not right at Utd, LVG has a lot of work to do in order to get the balance of the squad right and he's forked out a lot of cash already. I have no doubt that he'll get the opportunity but there will be more pressure on him to deliver next season while also playing good attacking football.
@UIR That makes no sense, liverpool are 5th. Had Liverpool been 4th then yes they would have been lucky. That's the point. Were you one of the ones saying we should have pushed for 2nd after the City game? Did we? No. Resting on our laurels. There was absolutely no reason for him to say the 1 point remark. None. It was just as easy to say we wanted to win the next 2 games. And ofcourse saying what he did sends the wrong message to the players.
It makes perfect sense. We are not lucky to be 4th. We deserve to be 4th. Whichever way you spin it. I would have loved to have pushed on for second and had we bwat Chelsea, who knows. Unfortunately we lost three in a row and have to settle for 4th place. We have a new manager who had barely any pre season, didn't get most of his signings until after the season started, was tasked with cleaning up a huge mess and came into the club losing 15 players. Add the horrible injury crisis to the mix and his job was never easy. Hes done pretty well all things considered. Not spectacular but good enough. We now have a platform to build on. Dont underestimate the benefit of a full pre season either.
Ofcourse we deserve to be 4th. Just bcos we deserve to be there doesnt mean we werent lucky along the way. Liverpool would only have been lucky from our 3 losses IF they had won their games and gained 4th spot. They then would also have deserved 4th but been lucky also. The rest I generally agree with. Still doesnt change the fact that he's done the bare minimum, settled for 4th and (as someone else has said) his "success" is only relative to Moyes, that's all.
Now he's achieved the minimum target its time to see what he can do next season. We have the potential for around 20 extra matches which will really test his worth. With the qualifier between us and the Champions League proper we will have to start the season well on 3 fronts from the off. Hes already gone a round further in the League Cup
Fingers crossed we don't have one of the toughies to qualify into the CL proper. To be honest, I am more worried about the qualifier than the CL itself. Compared to the really appalling RS campaign this season, I think LVG would do well against top European opposition. Probably suits his style more than the premiership. The one thing that he has over the likes of Moyes and other average managers is he feels confident against the top managers. With Moyes, we had the impression he was going to be overawed by the occasion.
