He should probably wait to see if he can get the biggest spenders in the prem above the biggest profit makers (transfer fees) before shooting his mouth off about how good he is.
I thought Van Gaals success came from promoting youth, falling out with big games and moulding a team to his style and playing the best system to match the squad. With UTD, so far he has gone back on his beliefs (Which worked) and is the star coach in charge of a team that is the type of team I would have created when I was a teenager playing football manager and editing the squad to cheat, for a laugh!
I'm not sure why van Gaal stating the obvious should offend you. Expectations are lower at Spurs. There is less to do to meet those expectations with the squad of players available to the manager. Of course the task of taking a team in 7th place to the top of league straightaway and to repeated success at home and in Europe beyond that is a much more difficult one, especially when so many established stars have had to be replaced at once. We are seeing that it is a quite monumental task. Any job would be considerably easier at present.
"I'm not sure why van Gaal stating the obvious should offend you. Expectations are lower at Spurs." So what are the minimum hopes and expectations for Man Utd and Spurs this season ?? That would determine who has the "easier" job.
I think that Van Gaal has to get back in the CL this year, especially given the money he's spent. I can't imagine The Glazers being too happy if he doesn't .
Both Man Utd and Spurs want to get a CL slot. A case of one expects to, and the other hopes to ?? And what is the price of failure for both managers (Moyes allegedly got the boot because of this) ??
Talking about the position of a club whom he rejected prior to taking the Utd job is a tad disrespectful in my eyes but it also stinks of him already feeling pressure to me. He's trying to defend your poor start by claiming what a monumental task he has and that he would've had it easier with us, though I think he's the one to blame for your poor displays. The formation you've played is ineffective with the players at your disposal. Man Utd should not be sitting with 2 points after games against Swansea at home and Sunderland & Burnley away while in the meantime crashing out of the League Cup in humiliating fashion to MK Dons. He's done a lot of talking about Utd being the biggest club in England/ World (fair statement, won't argue with that) but he's also done a lot of bigging himself up with his history at Barca, Bayern and Ajax and so far he's had to spend £200m on world stars to hopefully help improve the fortunes of the "worlds biggest club". If he's as good as he claims, why the need to spend that much?
He has to play that formation though because it seems that nobody, not even Louis 'cojones' van Gaal had the balls to tell the Utd board that one of Rooney, RVP or Mata is going to have to be dropped or even sold. So he has to try and fit them all in one way or another, and he has only made matters worse by buying Falcao because when fit he HAS to play. Not to mention that he has to fit in Di Maria somewhere too. And all the while his formation is severely hampering him, because his defenders and midfielders aren't adapting to it fast enough. IMO he doesn't have enough CBs of quality anyway. There is not guarantee that Rojo will succeed and he's not even able to play yet, and Evans, Jones and Smalling are all proving to be less than reliable in the meantime, especially in a back 3. The signing of Falcao was a masterstroke only in so far as he is a top goalscorer - although how much more effective is he really going to be than Rooney or RVP playing at no. 9 for the cost? - and that it has fooled large sections of the media and the fans into thinking the window has been a success, whereas in reality the big questions at the start of the sumer at Utd were the defence, the midfield and how to fit all the attacking players in, and from an outsider looking into the Utd situation, all these questions still remain.
Pre-Falcao he could've gone with a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 with Rooney off the main striker in my opinion. Di Maria and Mata to rotate from out wide as either wingers or inside forwards but Falcao's addition has made it a conundrum. CM can be chosen from Herrera, Fletcher, Anderson or Fellaini where as at the back, Shaw's injury hasn't helped but I'm sure there's a LB in Utd's academy who could've come in and played alongside a CB pairing of Jones and Evans/ Smalling with Rafael at RB. I personally just don't think 3-5-2 will work in the Premier League, it's too fast for that sort of formation and I think it will leave the CB's exposed to counter attacks from opposition.
Totally agree. There's no way it's harder to take a team the finished 7th, can pay wages up to £300k pw and spend over £150mill easily, than it is to take over a team that spent the majority of their money the previous summer on players that underachieved in the short term. No matter what Van Gaal says, he surely has underestimated the challenge and he's taken the club backwards again with a huge decision to make now over whether to persist with 3 at the back or go back to a more familiar formation. At the moment he's making the job look more difficult than it is.
The pressure on being Man Utd manager post-Fergie is immense. With the games played and transfer window to date, LVG has cranked the pressure dial up to 11 on himself. And with the club being a PLC, there will be stakeholders other than a club chairman who will be willing to pull the trigger.
