What can we learn from Van Gaal’s impact at Bayern & Barcelona?
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Louis van Gaal is a man with complete belief in his own ‘philosophy’ and methods, and has earned the tag of ‘dictator’ over his management career. His clashes with players are well documented, and many have been outspoken about his methods over the years. It’s fair to say he’s a divisive character, and his stock with fans seems to fluctuate quite unpredictably at times. At Manchester United, Van Gaal had a first season filled with hits and misses, culminating in a 4th place finish to earn that coveted Champions League spot. So what should United players and fans expect over the remainder of King Louis’ reign at the club?
It’s hard to see United playing free-flowing football and scoring at will under Van Gaal, and expecting a Premier League title might be asking too much. When Van Gaal won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, the team netted 72 goals. The next year saw the goal tally rise to 81, but a 3rd-place finish led to Van Gaal’s departure from the club. The following season under Jupp Heynckes, Bayern finished runners up, with only 77 goals. However, the 2012-13 season, which was Heynckes’ second in charge, saw Bayern score a whopping 98 goals, followed up by 94 goals in Pep Guardiola’s first season there.
LVG’s tendency of holding back attacking flair has reared its head at United. In his first season in charge, United mustered 62 goals – 2 shy of the turbulent 2013-14 season under David Moyes (and, briefly, Ryan Giggs). This tally was a 10 year low – the last time United scored fewer goals was in 2004-05, where we managed only 58 and finished runners up to Chelsea. Wayne Rooney ended last season as top scorer with 14 goals, which is the lowest tally for a Manchester United top scorer since 1981-82, when Frank Stapleton managed only 13.
If these statistics don’t provide a clearer perspective on Louis van Gaal’s philosophy, his comments after the game against Liverpool shed some more light. Asked about his side’s performance in each half, Van Gaal stated: “I think we played better in the first half in that we had far more control.” No doubt, United saw 61% of the ball in the first half compared to only 51% in the second. However, when you take into consideration that United managed only 2 shots in the first half and 7 in the second, and scored all three goals in the second half from 3 shots on target, Van Gaal’s comments seem counterintuitive at best. Controlling games certainly has its merits, but United fans can perhaps stop expecting 4-0 victories against bottom-rung sides lining up defensively at Old Trafford after being spoilt with them under Sir Alex Ferguson.
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Pep Guardiola’s football philosophy, which came to be popularized as ‘tiki-taka’, has set the foundation of Barcelona’s style of quick movement and short passes for years to come. However, Louis van Gaal’s philosophy hasn’t enjoyed such longevity. After stamping his mark on the managerial world with Ajax from 1991-1997, Van Gaal has failed to serve for more than 3 years in any of his other managerial stints, barring one at AZ from 2005-2009. At Barcelona, despite enjoying league success in his 3 years there, he left after finishing 2nd to Deportivo de la Coruña in 2000. He claimed to have had difficulty implementing his philosophy due to lack of cooperation from players, the most famous case being that of Rivaldo, who wanted to play in a central position but was made to play on the right by the manager.
Van Gaal’s return to Barcelona in 2002 was disappointing by any standards. His signings had failed to perform, and Juan Roman Riquelme, bought in to replace Rivaldo, had a forgettable time there. He left by mutual consent with Barcelona in 12th place and only 3 points adrift of the relegation zone. Fast forward to 2015 at Manchester United, and one can draw parallels with big money signings failing to perform at the club. Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao were hot properties in football at the time of their arrival, but couldn’t adapt to Van Gaal’s way. Perhaps the manager must be given credit for having the spine to take them out of the first team – something David Moyes wouldn’t have been likely to do – but when you consider the enormity of the sum spent in acquiring the services of proven world class talent, Van Gaal’s rigidity can look ill-judged.
Looking at the money Manchester United have spent under Louis van Gaal, United start resembling the cold commercialism of Real Madrid or Manchester City. Fallouts with players of high stature such as Victor Valdes, Angel di Maria, Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie, and successful youngsters of the past such as Rafael da Silva, don’t paint the picture of a happy, integrated environment. Couple that with rumours of unrest in the dressing room, and United seem to be losing something of the aura of the club.
United are on an incredible streak of 75 years with a home grown player featuring in the squad in every game, but last weekend against Southampton, young Paddy McNair was the only one keeping the record alive, and perhaps would have lost his place to Marcos Rojo if Luke Shaw hadn’t suffered the injury he did against PSV. Having been treated to a stable manager and faithful players since time immemorial, United fans are having to come to terms with the crueller corporate logic of the modern game.
However, there still remains cause for optimism. Van Gaal’s organizational efficiency has shown to benefit managers that step into his shoes once he leaves. After Van Gaal’s second spell at Barcelona, the team immediately recovered under Frank Rijkaard, finishing runners up in his first season and winning the La Liga title a season after. In Rijkaard’s third season, Barcelona not only retained the La Liga title, they also won the UEFA Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup, completing the coveted treble. Almost a direct parallel can be drawn with Bayern Munich post Louis van Gaal, where Jupp Heynckes’ side finished runners up in his first season in charge, and won the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, DFB Pokal and the DFL-Super Cup a season after. Historical precedent indicates that van Gaal will efficiently eclipse the ugly organizational void left behind after Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, and present Ryan Giggs with the perfect platform for success as United seek to reclaim their spot at the top of the footballing world and in the hearts of their fans.
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Cover image by Stan Chow.
A great read by Mrinal , look forward to more reads like this from you .
I think you see it too negative. LvG built the foundations on the shoulders of Cruyff. There’s a lot of similarities between Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern and now United, regarding their organisations and ways of working. He is a starter. He is rigid which is necessary when you want to implement a different way of working. He works better with young players because they are more open and more flexible. For established players it is much harder to adapt to a completely new way of approaching the game. But youngsters will grow up with it and use it to their and the club’s benefit. Within a few years the new players will all come from the academy or will be bought young.
He lays the foundation and after 3-4 years its done and a Brittish manager should take over and add the brittish qualities to the team. Thats what the spanish did with Barca and the germans with Bayern. After 3 years when the system is fully implemented Giggs should take over and polish the Brittish qualities speed, grit, determination and fighting spirit more up until they shine brighter. Do that well and you have an english variation on Bayern and Barca. But stay within the basic framework of LvG’s foundation because it simply works.
You are absolutely right. United are very lucky to have signed Van Gaal, at a stage when the club needed direction and leadership. What a lot of fans and opinion writers don’t understand is that United does not have a strong technical hierarchy like at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, not even a Director of Football. Sir Alex’s long reign at the club created a power vaccum when he left.
Hopefully, Van Gaal lays strong foundations to be built upon by his successors like you pointed out.
Mrinal like your comments.
There are reasons to be apprehensive about Van Gaal’s management style looking at his past record, but you thinking is clearly biased and shallow. His record with Barca and Bayern are not directly comparable for the following reasons:
1) Barca and Bayern had a club hierarchy which was very hesitant to changes he started introducing, seeing them as a threat to their club traditions. Here, at United, the club owners completely support him and fans are slowly warming to him. (Actually, your thinking is reflective of the same resistance to change and your deep desire for United to back to the ‘Sir Alex’s attack by the wings’ ways)
2) Van Gaal was able to clear out the “undesirables” in his first season at United. At Barca and Bayern, he could not even think about doing this and there was constant friction as result.
3) Van Gaal has become pragmatic after his experiences with Bayern (for eg: He chopped and changed the defense too many times at Bayern in his second season and he seems to have learnt the importance of continuity, however flawed it may be to play Daley Blind as left centre back) and he has mellowed down with age. His tactics and attitudes are much more flexible than they used to be.
What i think are Van Gaal’s real limitations
1)He was never known to have good eye for defensive talent. Only his Ajax team had an enviable defense.
2)He likes small squads, which may not be able to cope with injuries, come the business end of the season.
3)His teams (after Ajax) have all been weak in the air and susceptible to concede via set plays (He seems to have corrected it by having two players on either side of the goalkeeper for corner kicks)
4)One point I semi-concede is – His abrasive style of management can lead to low team morale which happened during his stints at Barca and Bayern. (But, his Ajax, AZ Alkmaar teams loved him)
1)Van Gaal’s philosophy is the Dutch/Ajax philosophy and Pep’s tiki-taka was inspired by this philosophy, especially Van Gaal’s Ajax team of 1990s. Marcelo Bielsa has also adapted this philosophy into his own coaching methods. You have to understand that it is flexible and practical depending on the qualities of the players in the squad.
His philosophy is – you control the game, goals will come once the players have gotten used to the system. This will be an amazing philosophy to build on for the future.
If you want to learn more about this, read “The Coaching Philosophies of Louis Van Gaal and the Ajax Coaches by Henny Kormelink, Tjeu Seeverens”.
2) United have become coldly commercial like Real Madrid and Man City – That’s the reality of the situation. You have to be in the top four every year or you’ll end up getting thrown out of European royalty like Liverpool. You either buy Martial for 36 million or lose out 35 million not qualifying for Champions League.
3) Fallouts with players – Valdes has been treated harshly and there is no excuse. Di Maria was using United as a stop gap until PSG was cleared of FFP restrictions (he admitted to this in a radio interview in France Nov,2014) and was not up for the challenge in North West England, Rafeal was an aweful defender who got himself needlessly sent off in knock-out cup games (CL quarter final against Bayern), Falcao – how’s it working out for him at Chelsea and there I rest my case. Van Persie – he is now a ‘has-been’ who is now feuding with his manager at Fernabache in the press.
Our academy is not producing top talents anymore – all our academy players expect Perera, Lingard and Varela are good enough for Stoke or West Brom, not United. Januzaj was rightly sent out loan, as Herera is a better squad player at his point and not playing regularly can hinder his growth. And we stupidly let go of Pogba. United should have a long hard look at our youth scouting networks.
4) Finally, it is exciting to have a coach like Van Gaal at United who cares about football as a tradition and seeks to bring new ideas to the English game rather than some journeyman coach like Ancelotti.
In response to your points, Vasu- 3) Valdes refused to play for the reserve team, and instead preferred to sit on the bench and waste time that could have been spent gaining match fitness. No matter how high your position in world football, recovering from an injury as severe as a torn ACL warrants some practice in a low-pressure environment like reserve matches. If he wasn’t willing to put the team’s interests ahead of his pride, van Gaal was right relegate him to the stands. Falcao and van Persie were already on the decline, and have lost nearly all of the sharpness and match fitness that once made them deadly. No player is invincible, not even Wayne Rooney (as we’re seeing now), and that is not at all due to van Gaal. Perhaps he could have made use of them more efficiently in his tactical set up, but to attribute their failings at Chelsea and Fenerbache to van Gaal is unwarranted. Furthermore, I’m sure you didn’t have a problem with ‘awful defenders’ when Patrice Evra was tearing down the left flank for us during SAF’s tenure. Even still, if you believe Rafael was so terrible, then it shouldn’t be a problem that he was sent packing by van Gaal, according to your reasoning…
4) Academy players take time to develop, and judging from the signs they’ve given so far, I feel United academy players have a bright future ahead. Clearly you’ve left out some significant players with potential (Mcnair, Blackett, Wilson), who have shown they can compete adequately in the Premier League despite their youth. You or I cannot judge whether in 5 years they’ll be world class, but there’s no reason to write them off based on their first year in the most demanding football league in the world. As for Pogba, every club makes mistakes, and we may as well stop being bitter about it and move on. Players like Pereira and Lingard show signs of being stars in their own right.
3)I agree that Valdes should have played the reserve game. But, you don’t have to torture the guy; unceremoniously chucking him into the youth team dressing room. Not being allowed to use the facilities when the first team is training. It was worsens team morale to have a fellow player treated that way. No good can come of it.
With the other players, you completely misunderstood me. I was refuting that claim made in the article that Van Gaal mismanaged Di Maria, Falcao, Van Persie and others. And yes I am glad to see the back of Raphael.
4) I maintain my stance that only Perera, Lingard, Varela are the only academy players with potential future in the first team. I did not mention Wilson and others, coz they are not good enough in my opinion. Color me a pessimist after seeing – Gibson, Cleverly, Welbeck and Evans. One other Academy player I like is Sean Goss. His models his game around Micheal Carrick.
My original post was largely written in defense of Van Gaal.
Felt like I had to have a say in this discussion.
A) Nowhere in my article have I stated that van Gaal is a bad manager, or that signing him was the wrong decision. The point of my article was to philosophize what the future holds for Manchester United. If we see United destroying sub par teams 4-0 like any Premier League outfit do, I would be delighted. However, there is evidence to suggest that’s not going to happen.
Secondly, there are a LOT of tactical differences between Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka and Louis van Gaal’s brand of football. You might argue that they’re fundamentally the same, but there’s a reason tiki-taka has become synonymous with Pep Guardiola and not van Gaal.
Thirdly, Anthony Martial, our “panic buy” is over-performing. Other than him, United have only 1 center forward in Wayne Rooney (I’m not counting Marouane Fellaini as one). Past United squads have had 4 center forwards in the line up. Taking that into consideration, releasing Falcao and van Persie might have not been the correct move.
I don’t see any evidence of the statement “His tactics and attitudes are much more flexible than they used to be.”
Also, it’s very easy for all us armchair analysts to say “he cleared out the squad” when most members in the squad were a part of the Premier League winning side under Sir Alex Ferguson. As United fans we do want to be optimists and back every decision of the manager, but when being critical one cannot find a valid excuse for buying Angel di Maria (to some, the best player in the world at a point) for the price he did, and selling him for 60 million.
Also, if you that van Gaal didn’t have as much freedom with Barcelona and Bayern Munich due to hierarchies etc, you have to substantiate that with some evidence, or state that it’s your opinion.
However, I do mention that he is in fact providing the transition that he has done in the past, which is bound to be rough. And believe me, I do think signing van Gaal was the perfect move, but I cannot overlook the mistakes he has made.
– Mrinal
Felt like I had to have a say in this discussion.
Nowhere in my article have I stated that van Gaal is a bad manager, or that signing him was the wrong decision. The point of my article was to philosophize what the future holds for Manchester United. If we see United destroying sub par teams 4-0 like any Premier League outfit do, I would be delighted. However, there is evidence to suggest that’s not going to happen.
Secondly, there are a LOT of tactical differences between Pep Guardiola’s tiki-taka and Louis van Gaal’s brand of football. You might argue that they’re fundamentally the same, but there’s a reason tiki-taka has become synonymous with Pep Guardiola and not van Gaal.
Thirdly, Anthony Martial, our “panic buy” is over-performing. Other than him, United have only 1 center forward in Wayne Rooney, and young James Wilson (I’m not counting Marouane Fellaini as one). Past United squads have had 4 center forwards in the line up. Taking that into consideration, releasing Falcao and van Persie might have not been the correct move.
I don’t see any evidence of the statement “His tactics and attitudes are much more flexible than they used to be.”
Also, it’s very easy for all us armchair analysts to say “he cleared out the squad” when most members in the squad were a part of the Premier League winning side under Sir Alex Ferguson. As United fans we do want to be optimists and back every decision of the manager, but when being critical one cannot find a valid excuse for buying Angel di Maria (to some, the best player in the world at a point) for the price he did, and selling him a year later.
Also, if you claim that van Gaal didn’t have as much freedom with Barcelona and Bayern Munich due to hierarchies etc, you have to substantiate that with some evidence, or state that it’s your opinion. I feel like managers are given enough tactical freedom by the board in most cases. I’m ready to change my opinion if proven wrong, of course, but would need evidence supportive of the claim.
I do mention that he is in fact providing the transition that he has done in the past, which is bound to be rough. And believe me, I do think signing van Gaal was the perfect move, but I cannot overlook the mistakes he has made. And yes, it is a pessimistic view of the situation, but I felt like if we (I mainly speak for myself) could acknowledge the reality and set our expectations accordingly, it would help not being disappointed when held to 0-0 draws against sides like West Brom. Gary Neville also said that United play football at 0-0 as if they have won the game already, and that the risk factor, which characterized all previous United sides, is missing.
I feel like many of you are substantiating what I say in my last paragraph. After everything is said and done, I wouldn’t expect a Premier League trophy this season. I do, though, look forward to United next season or two years down the line, as Premier League winners and potential Champions League contenders, and maybe even winners.
Thank you for the feedback guys. Nothing like an intense football discussion.
– Mrinal
First of all, thank you for keeping it civil and not calling me names or assuming my intentions and depth of football knowledge, unlike the other guy. I apologize if I came out too hard on you.
1) Firstly, I wrote my original comment primarily in defense of Van Gaal. I was very critical of you because you have written a stream of articles which basically convey too much pessimism towards the coaching techniques of Van Gaal. His methods take time and the last time he was afforded time was at AZ Alkmaar and he did very well with the meager resources he had. Bayern and Barca tenures are wrong indicators of what he could achieve here and what we as fans can expect out of him here at United.
2) As i said, Pep’s, Bielsa’s, Van Gaal’s have the same philosophical foundations. It is a very adaptable philosophy. Pep’s tiki-taka team was a once in a generation thing where quality players are taught that way of playing since adolescence. I never said Van Gaal could ever replicate it with United. But, once the first team adjusts to his system and it comes second nature and once we make a few quality additions, then we will have a clearer picture. Just the addition of Martial and Depay to the team this season has substantially changed our offensive game from last season. Players like Mata are getting used to the system as well.
3) I agree. One of the legitimate criticisms you can make is that Van Gaal like small squads.( I already mentioned this in a post below already) A case could me made for Van Persie but he can’t even get into Fernabache’s starting 11 and he has been declining steadily the past 3 years. Falcao – I am sorry. I think he is absolutely useless. I am so glad his ineptitude is winding up Mourinho at Chelsea.
4) I follow Bayern Munich as well. So, I am quiet familiar with Van Gaal’s management. Calling his time there as turbulent even when they were winning would be an understatement. My general impression is that he has mellowed down with age and United’s working atmosphere is more conducive to his dictatorial methods, so there is generally less friction than at Bayern.
I see where your concern arises from. However, could you site a legible source claiming that van Gaal’s chief statistician had told him about van Persie’s declining performance?
Secondly, I couldn’t find conclusive evidence as to where exactly Angel di Maria claims not to be committed to Manchester United, before joining the club. In fact, he claims that if he’d left Real Madrid for another club, it would have been Manchester United.
Thirdly, where did you find that Bayern Munich and Barcelona didn’t let van Gaal implement his new ideas? I don’t find conclusive evidence that states Barcelona was resisting change really. Your main argument that my article and thinking is “shallow” hinges on this particular factual instance, so I would love to learn more about it.
Fourth, you might call my articles pessimistic, but I have provided evidence, analyzed it, and extrapolated what could potentially be the case. You have mainly given opinion and justified every individual van Gaal decision, refusing to see the pattern. If you provide factual instances and analysis of statistics, we could progress further in the discussion. You could read many articles out there that describe him as a genius, but you cannot blindly ignore this side of the issue.
I think forum guidelines are not allowing me to post links. I would be more than happy to email the links to the editor, if you please
In reponse to your fourth point,
As i said, what made me write my original posts was your pessimistic or in a way deterministic way of looking at Van Gaal, which I believe was clouding your judgement. You were indeed backing up your narrative from a pattern of things/events from Van Gaal’s past. But, in my opinion, you were incomplete in your research, you were selecting an incomplete set of available variables (and there will always variables you can never account for when making future projections), which I believe I have exposed.
I am trying to refute your article, not trying to weave my own grand narrative. There is also an optimistic narrative to be made, which i find absent in your website. I think you are doing a disservice to your readers. This is why I came down hard on you. My sincere hope is that you take my comments constructively and be more nuanced in your articles from here on out.
Perhaps you could post these links with a “$” at the start and the end, and not make them hyperlinks. Or in any case, my email ID is mdt315@nyu.edu in case you’d like to email me these links.
You have to see why you haven’t done a great job at refuting my article. You’ve used sentences such as “As i said, what made me write my original posts was your pessimistic or in a way deterministic way of looking at Van Gaal, which I believe was clouding your judgement.”
“But, in my opinion, you were incomplete in your research.”
Notice the use of the words “I believe” and “in my opinion”? There is, at this point, little to no evidence presented by you. Secondly, I just fail to see how hierarchies at a club would interfere with the manager SO MUCH so that it makes the reigns at the clubs completely incomparable. If you say van Gaal isn’t as rigid anymore, or has become flexible, I need to see some evidence supportive of that fact.
And for my part, I just analyze evidence and suggest where it may point to. And United might still beat bottom rung sides 4-0 or win the Premier League title, but if that’s the case, there has to be some evidence supportive of that. If you did provide me with that evidence, it would be a semi-decent attempt at refuting what I have said. I do not care if I do a disservice to my readers. I am trying to base my perspective on what evidence suggests, and you want me to base my evidence on what your perspective suggests. For my part, that’s just not going to happen.
I mean if you don’t see why I cannot take your analysis seriously over here, then I don’t think there’s anything I can do to further reason with you but link you to articles that hail van Gaal as a genius.
1) I used the world “turbulent” to the reign of Van Gaal at Bayern Munich. Looks like you don’t know even half the story of what happened there at Bayern before writing an article on Van Gaal’s legacy.
2) I state facts and deduce conclusions. So, I purposely put ‘I think’, ‘I believe’ as any analysis is opinion. After all our discourse, you still argue as if you have a unique domain over “facts” and have a chosen an intellectually dishonest route of argument, even after already admitting that your article was slanted and was a counter-weight to pro-Van Gaal pieces elsewhere on the internet in your previous reply.
3) As you have said, you have already made up your mind. So, all in all, I should have known better.
Good Luck
Yes but I never used the word “turbulent” to the reign of Van Gaal at Bayern Munich.
I didn’t address it. You’re accusing me of doing something I didn’t do in the article.
If you found the reign “turbulent” that’s cool.
I don’t argue I have a unique domain over facts. In fact, you’ve not presented any fact or analysis. I don’t like people who fabricate facts in order to win arguments. If you did, in fact, happen to show them to me, we can talk. But seeing as you have failed, I’m inclined to think they’re not “facts”.
I wish you could justify the use of the phrases “a unique domain over “facts”” and “an intellectually dishonest route”. Or email me with any link, or post the link without hyperlinking them. But all you came up with was excuses, opinions and fabricated statements.
If you do provide any evidence, I’d love discussing with you. Until then, thank you for your feedback, and I wish you the best. Frankly speaking, I had fun discussing the issue with you, but was disappointed with the lack of evidence on your behalf.
Vasu when I read your opinion on the article above, i was left wondering as to when did you start watching football. I say this because you speak just like the modern day corporate fan would speak. ‘Manchester United does not produce homegrown talents anymore’. Now there isn’t an intelligible soul in world football who doesnt believe in ‘greatness’, year after year, being bred at Carrington. Paul Pogba, Danny Welbeck, Gerard Pique, Adnan Januzaj,etc. are all doing exceptionally well on the global front, each playing for major football clubs around the world. Two of them have even gone on to turn themselves into household names. SO when you refer to Man United not producing homegrown talent, it is nothing but a major gaffe at your end.
Coming Angel Di Maria. The player was coming from a truly outstanding season at Real Madrid which could be quantified with him winning MOM in the finals of the Champions League. He also had a brilliant World Cup in Brazil and his national side dearly missed him in the Final. I am well within my sphere of knowledge when i say that ‘He could have made a difference, a massive one.’ So you are saying that the English Premier League was too much for this world class player to handle? Another point, another error Vasu.
Robin Van Persie. Our top goal scorer since he came to Old Trafford and Van Gaal’s favorite dutch was so quickly called to be out of favor in your not-so-humble opinion. Getting a feeling that you are one of those hypocrite fans after all who celebrates in madness when Persie scores a scorching volley but is quick to dismiss him when he runs a yard slower.
I could end up opposing all your points but to what effect? What you must do is alter your understanding of the game. Watch more and imbibe more preferably by watching more football.
1) Buying players who were 17 years old from other club’s academies is not the same as developing players from the ground up. Welbeck, Cleverly, Gibson are not the same as Pique, Pogba, Januzaj.(I have already asserted that we made a mistake mismanaging Pogba and I am still very hopeful about Adnan.)
Class of 92 we not bought at 17. They were local lads. If you can’t see the difference, I can’t help you.
3) Van Gaal gave debuts to half of the Dutch starts of the 90s and early to mid 2000s while at Ajax. Same with Xavi, Iniesta at Barca (1998), Valdes (2002). Same with Muller, Bastuber, Alaba at Bayern (2010). So, yeah, this “corporate fan” completely trusts Van Gaal on playing youngsters in the first team when he suits fit.
3) Van Persie – Van Gaal sold Van Persie when he found out from his chief statistician that he stats have been declining steadily for the last 3 years. He was sold for 3 million and another 12 million was saved in wages (250k/week) which was used to pay for Martial. I can appreciate this sound piece of business and can rewatch and enjoy old games for Van Persie’s first season. I am not as intellectually handicapped as you.
4) Di Maria – He could have made a difference. All i was saying that he never fully committed to United in his mind and took the easy way out. I don’t blame him. I was only responding to claims made in the article that Van Gaal was solely responsible for his exit without explaining the complicated picture.
I sort of agree with this article. I am also a fan of van Gaal, and think he is a great choice. However, the point made here is solid. He’s not one of the greatest coaches of all time at any rate, and has made mistakes at United, which, perhaps any manager filling his boots would make, but at the same time, must be addressed. In that sense, I agree with the fact that a United fan can’t expect a premier league victory or 4-0 wins against bottom rung sides week in week out. If it comes, they should take it as a bonus and enjoy the game.
Greetings Mr. Vasu,
I have read all the comments you have previously posted. I have seen you talk about how the Bayern board did not give LVG freedom, about Barcelona’s ‘not so good’ defence under LVG and about LVG’s so called ‘successful’ stint with AZ Alkamaar. Regarding his stint with AZ Alkamaar, I would like to apprise you about a few facts/figures you haven’t heard/read of.
Van Gaal joined AZ Alkamaar in 2005 replacing Co Adriaanse, who had come 3rd in the league in the season he was replaced. LVG’s first season ended in AZ coming second. His 2nd season ended in them coming third (where is the progress?). Then came the year which I have not heard you talk about. LVG’s AZ came 11th in the Eredivisie. Yes,11th. They failed to qualify for the UCL as well when they were knocked out by Ajax in the playoff. After which he decided to leave the club. After his players persisting on him staying, he decided to give it one more go. Yes, they did win the season that year, but was his stint with the side as good as you make it out to be for the readers? I think not.
Also, you mentioned the Bayern board not giving LVG the freedom, but I am sure they did not decide the formation LVG played. Not to forget, he was the reason behind Luca Tonight joining Roma. His ego clash with him paved Luca’s way to Roma. Bayerns board cared about Toni and when your manager lets go one of your main players, isn’t the board ought to put some restriction?
Also you mentioned Barcelona’s not so good defence. Carles Puyol and Frank De boer, as bad as you make it out to be? I think not.
Cheers,
Perhaps, I should have been more clear. He was ‘eventually successful’ at AZ Alkmaar. I am not an apologist for Van Gaal. He has had successes and failures in his past, I am trying to defend him from what I read is an slanted narrative coming from this author through a series of articles posted on this blog. What my take away from his Alkmaar tenure is, persistence may pay off. I said MAY. I don’t know how it is going to work out for him at United. I always try to be cautiously optimistic.
Regarding his stint at Bayern – I am not passing judgment on what Van Gaal did there. I am not passing judgment on how the Board reacted to him decisions. All I am saying is you cannot extrapolate events which happened at Bayern to predict how Van Gaal’s tenure will be, at United
Regarding Barca defense – I meant defensive performances. Not personnel.
PS: You made some very good points.