I know everyone is saying LVG is past his best, but he has to be better than Moyes. Think united will come third next season ahead of Pool and Arse. But LVG at United does not fill me with dread
Who should we have got then, was there a better alternative who was available? I think Van Gaal was the best available
Fo sho, I'm liking dish mancheshter unitedsh... please log in to view this image Looks like a ****ed up Paulie Walnuts
Bruno Conte maybe.. although maybe not experienced enough yet. Jose would left Chelsea and got on the first plane to Manchester if you'd asked him. LVG's has successes but many recent failings: sacked for not getting third in the Bundesliga. Fired by Barca Failing to qualify for 2002 World Cup wrecking Cruyff's youth programme at Ajax
At the end of the day, he is an improvement on Moyes. United will be back in the top 4 if he makes a couple of decent signings. Top 3 next season should be Chelsea, City and United with Pool or Arse taking the 4th spot.
I think the problem for VG though is that he arguably has to replace the entire back 4. Decent back 4's tend to have an understanding etc which they just wont have for months if not the entire season. It's not as if they have a commanding and vocal keeper either (albeit he is a good keeper). I think the Defence will be a mess so they'll really need the forward line to perform. I think it'll be another tough fight for top 4 in truth. Can also see another case of pee'd off Rooney as well. Worrying times to be a manc.
True. It worked for Liverpool this season. But i dont think RVP has the legs to pull another awesome season out of his ass. On that note, do you see United signing a striker this summer? Its likely Hernandez will leave Wellbeck is....well....Wellbeck. That really leaves Rooney and RVP. I still think they would be better off dumping RVP and going with Rooney up front (he did well in 2012 when he played up there) and sticking Mata behind him in the No 10 role.
I think Mata behind Rooney is better than Rooney behind RVP but nice options to have. Difficult to get all 3 on the pitch and have a balanced side though, especially against better opposition. If I was United I wouldn't buy a striker unless it was to bring in a 3rd choice level one to replace say Hernandez. A striker good enough to dislodge Rooney and/or RVP is going to cost 30 million plus and simply they have to spent the money elsewhere. Also with VG now appointed, RVP is almost certainly going to carry on as the main striker. What he does at number 10 and out wide is anyone's guess. Looking at their first team, you could easily make a case for over half of it being replaced. That is a massive job to undertake, even with money as Spurs showed. To compete for the title again and not allowing for some massive changes in form from the likes of Young, Fellaini and Nani, they arguably need a whole new back 4, 2 central midfielders and arguably a winger.
oh yeah I hadnt thought of that. With VG being a dutchy, he will probably favour RVP. IMO RVP is on a downward slide so I think that can only work in everyone elses favour tbh. RVP has peaked imo. He is getting older and injuries are starting to plague him again. I would bet against him having another 25-30 goal season. I may be wrong tho
Agreed. He'll be done at the top level within 2 years. He's had a massive list of injuries, still is regularly picking up knocks and wrong side of 30. However he'll do United for a while yet whilst they address other areas of the squad. Fergie put a lot of faith into bringing through/buying the next batch of youngsters and you'd have to say it hasn't worked this time. Cleverley, Smalling, Welbeck and Raphael look squad players at best and jury still out on Jones until he plays that centre back role regularly. He's certainly no top class midfielder. Ironically the one youngster who looks the business is Janujaz, who Moyes really brought through.
SAF has always had shall we say "Mediocre" squad players to flesh out his team, players who wouldnt set the world on fire elsewhere but know Uniteds set up and their team mates to a "T" and have plenty of committment to the team. Players like Nicky Butt, Phil Neville, Ji Sung Park etc. Thing is, he always had world class players around them to perform when it mattered (Beckham, Cantona, Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy) Now they are sorely lacking in this department imo. They have a multitude of players who are great, but they all play the same position. And trying to re-jig the team to fit them all in (Square pegs in round holes), was part of Moyes' failures last year imo.
In the 1990s van Gaal was a great manager In the 2000s van Gaal was an average manager In the 2010s van Gaal is a poor manager
