He’s regretted it since, but Louis van Gaal asked to be judged three months into life as Manchester United manager so we’ve gone and done just that.
Van Gaal reached that three-month milestone last Thursday and although his time in charge at Old Trafford so far has hardly been a rip-roaring success, the Red Devils will reclaim fourth place and go within three points of champions Manchester City if they can win at West Brom tonight so it hasn’t been a disaster either.
The Dutchman has since spoken of regret at asking not to be judged until three months into his United reign, but rightly or wrongly, snap judgements are made in football all the time and we’ve weighed up what we think he’s got right and what he’s got wrong so far.
What he’s got right
He’s given youth a chance
Van Gaal has a history of trusting young players in his managerial career to date and though circumstances dictated that he had to play some new faces at times, he’s not been afraid to put his faith in youth from the get-go at Old Trafford.
The United manager has handed Premier League debuts to the likes of Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair, he started Jesse Lingard in the opening game of the season when there were more established options available and he has pushed promising youngster James Wilson up the pecking order of strikers, even if it was at the expense of another United graduate, Danny Welbeck.
Somewhat ironically, the most outstanding youngster of last season, Adnan Januzaj, hasn’t been given much game time by Van Gaal, although the arrival of Angel di Maria and Ander Herrera in particular can go some way to explaining that.
His imitation of Paddy McNair’s dramatic headed clearance against West Ham in an interview
You’ve got to love the enthusiasm here…
He implemented a much-needed clear out
The sale of Danny Welbeck raised the ire of some Manchester United fans, but there can be no doubting that there was a lot of mediocrity in the ranks at Old Trafford in recent seasons and that clearing a few players out was as necessary as bringing others in.
No Champions League football meant that United didn’t have a need for such a bulky panel of first-team players and though the current squad is far from perfect and a little bit imbalanced, there’s certainly not as many average yet highly-paid performers hanging around.
He’s consistently projected an air of confidence
A blind man could see that Van Gaal wasn’t lacking in the self-confidence department before arriving at Old Trafford, but in all his public dealings to date he has projected an air of authority that you would expect from a manager of such a big club, something you could certainly not say about his faltering predecessor.
Even in defeat this season, Van Gaal hasn’t papered over the cracks and attempted to provide lame excuses for limp performances that David Moyes often did; he’s merely insisted that a team of United’s stature should be doing better than the kamikaze and infamous display they delivered in the second half at Leicester earlier in the campaign.
What he’s got wrong
Delayed dealings in the transfer market
Some would say that the arrival of Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria represented a good transfer window for the Red Devils, but for a long time it appeared as if this summer’s transfer window might go the same way as the disaster of the year before.
Deals for Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera had been agreed well in advance of LVG’s arrival and the need to evaluate the existing squad as soon as he arrived went some of the way to explaining the frantic dealings in the final few days of the window.
Van Gaal isn’t in charge of finalising transfer deals so he can only be held partly responsible, but despite the recruitment of proven class like Di Maria and Falcao, the signing of Marcos Rojo seemed to have an element of panic about it and it’s pretty clear that there’s still an imbalance in United’s squad, particularly in defence.
Not inviting Big Sam for a glass of wine at Old Trafford
We’re sure if it was Sam Allardici in charge of West Ham, he would have been invited for a glass of red at the Theatre of Dreams.
Repeated meddling with formations
Injuries certainly haven’t helped, but already Van Gaal has had to abandon the 3-5-2 formation he said he would adapt at the start of the season and, seven games in, it’s still hard to put a finger on what shape best suits United and what his best XI might look like when everyone is fit.
Injuries, suspension and international breaks have made it hard for Van Gaal to establish some sort of consistency, but with so many new players in the shake-up, the lack of a clearly-defined shape or approach (on the surface at least) hasn’t helped.
Eyeing up an attractive reporter during pre-season
Come on Louis, your wife could have been watching…
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