The excuses, just like the dire football, are starting to wear thin for Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United. Friday night’s embarrassingly soporific goalless draw against League 2 Cambridge United was made all the more shameful by the Dutchman’s pathetic post-match quotes.
“Everything” was apparently against the Red Devils in the FA Cup fourth-round tie, despite a chasm of 75 places in the football pyramid and £2 billion difference (Dh11bn) in valuation.
The pitch and the referee received his ire when a period of uncharacteristic self-reflection wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Bombastic Van Gaal doesn’t admit any weaknesses, and the comments could have been engineered to deflect pressure away. But for a man who has built a career on the back of unshakeable self confidence, he probably believed every deluded word.
United remain in the top four of the Premier League and a unity has been injected into the squad absent last term so it’s not all negative when discussing the 63-year-old’s impact at Old Trafford.
Equally, £150 million of investment not afforded to his predecessor David Moyes has also followed him through the entrance. Zip and excitement, bywords for watching Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering outfit, have been absent for much of the early months of Van Gaal’s reign.
Clarity of vision, too. United’s return of 35 goals is the lowest in the top five of the Premier League table. Unwanted benchmarks have also occured, such as the 1-0 home loss to Southampton earlier this month, featuring no shots on target.
United top the table for sideways passes, this sterile possession making them a less-than-alluring proposition to watch. Ferguson dared United fans to dream, his swashbuckling play and daring approach to the game rewarded with 38 trophies in 26 years at the Theatre of Dreams.
So far, Van Gaal has sucked the fun out of United. Where ruthless attacking was the byword for Ferguson’s spell, muddled thinking and unnecessary meddling seem to define Van Gaal.
The players do not seem to know where they stand. A variety of formations have been used so far, with a 4-4-2 diamond, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and vilified 3-5-2 utilised.
The tactics do not seem to always suit the personnel available. Seeing slight British-record signing Angel Di Maria struggle as a back-to-goal striker while Wayne Rooney occupies his spot in midfield just one of many mystifying decisons.
Friday’s dire stalemate continued the confusing pattern. Lumbering, but effective, centre midfielder Marouane Fellaini was placed on the right wing for much of the match.
Rapid left-back Luke Shaw saw only a few minutes of action during a contest crying out for pace out wide to break through the massed Cambridge ranks. And, clumsy centre-back Phil Jones was once again tasked to take awful corners.
United resemble Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool at their most painful. Not an association anyone at the club should want made, considering the rivalry between them.
Despite notable successes, the Spaniard all too often played with the handbrake on and unneccesarily micro-managed. He was no match for Ferguson and his swashbucklers from 2004 to his exit in 2010. Neither will Van Gaal be, if the current befuddling situation remains.
