After a second disappointing result for Manchester United in a week, is Louis Van Gaal’s time at the Theatre Of Dreams starting to come to an end?
This season United have been widely criticised for their lack of forward passing and attacking football both at home and away but in contrast, United have the joint best defence in the Premier League along with Tottenham, who play today.
The worrying thing for all Manchester United fans is that after arguably their two most attacking games this season, they’ve conceded five goals, with four coming from set pieces. The injuries cannot be blamed on Van Gaal but with key defensive players such as Smalling, Darmian and Shaw all out, not to mention Phil Jones and Morgan Schneiderlin who have only just returned from the injury list, is it proof the Dutchman hasn’t actually fixed the defence? Against Wolfsburg midweek and Bournemouth last night, Van Gaal has been forced to rely on 22 year old Guillermo Varela and 18 year old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson to fill the fullback spaces for United and with such inexperience of big games it brings to mind what Van Gaal has actually spent £250milli0n on over the course of his year and a half at The Red Devils.
It’s not all doom and gloom for United fans after they still stand above rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham before today’s Super Sunday fixtures with over half the season to go, but is a club that once competed for the title every year happy to challenge for the fourth spot? Things aren’t going well on or off the pitch for Van Gaal with never-ending rumours about his future replacements such as Ancelotti, Guardiola and even slight whispers of current assistant manager Ryan Giggs. Then there’s the question of has Van Gaal lost the dressing room? In my opinion, yes. The lack of appearances for Ashley Young considering his passion for the shirt and the lack of fullback replacements raises question marks to his personal relationship with the winger. Ander Herrera, although currently injured, a fan favourite at United and alongside fellow Spaniard Juan Mata effectively steered United to the fourth spot last year but one year on cannot get into the starting line-up. Last but not least, Bastian Schweinsteiger, world cup winner, Bundesliga winner and many more honours is frequently taken off when perhaps is the most effective leader on the pitch. The attitude of the players when on the pitch reflects in a way of a team who don’t wish to play for the manager, let alone each other.
Another huge debate in one of many strange decisions Van Gaal has made during his time at United is the sale of Javier Hernandez, also a fan favourite and prolific goal scorer who was sold to Bayer Leverkusen and has now scored 15 goals in 12 games compared to United’s 10 in the last 12 games. The sale of Hernandez, van Persie and the loaning out of James Wilson has left United short in another position, so is it down to Van Gaal’s arrogance and personal view on the player?
Whatever the future holds for the rest of this season for Manchester United, with Van Gaal in charge or not, there’s no doubt the fans of Manchester United are starting to become tiresome of the backwards passing and the sooner United start to play the ‘United Way,’ the sooner we can all watch them without falling asleep within ten minutes.
Article Written By Jordan Clarke.