So what is the actual issue then?

[Pexbo]

Theres been a few points this season that the Caf has complained about til they are blue in the face.

First of all it was the formation. 3-5-2. A formation that Van Gaal felt was necessary to offer balance for a side that lacked devensively. We had our fullbacks missing and we had our best centrebacks injured so he opted for wingbacks with an extra centreback. It lead to our best run of the season with 6 wins and a draw in 7 games despite the injuries.

But the football wasn't good enough, we weren't creating enough chances, it has to be the diamond 4-4-2. So we switch back to it and muster up a 0-0 draw against League Two Cambridge.

Then it was Di Maria being used out of position, he was put back into midfield, in the diamond and yet we still drew against Preston and West Ham and looked unconvincing against Leicester and Burnley.

Next it's Rooney out of position. He's a striker not a midfielder! An unconvincing display against Preston and everyone goes overboard making out that he was all that we were missing. The reality is that he looked just as impotent up there as our other strikers have all season with only a dive for a penalty and the resulting penalty being his positive contributions. Another performance against Swansea that while being a good game for him, he didn't actually contribute anything more than Falcao has been doing as he played with his back to goal all game and managed just one limp shot pushed towards goal. An industrious performance with some cute interplay but it solves absolutely nothing. It was literally just a cleaner version of exactly the game Falcao has been playing.

Then there is Ander Herrera who became the saviour of all saviours with every game he didn't play and yet in his two starts since getting back into the side we concede 3 goals in 2 games and drop 5 points.

So do we have any bright ideas yet? Januzaj hasn't played for a couple of games, has it been long enough for him to be built up to be the messiah yet? Maybe if we play him in a 4-2-3-1 on the wing with Di Maria it will solve everything and he won't be as inconsistent as he has been for the whole season. Maybe it will all magically come together and we can all call Van Gaal an idiot for not thinking of it before. Or is it Mata's turn to be the hero? He had a great run through December but his performances tailed off big style through January, maybe he's the magic answer now.

 

[2 man midfield]

I'd like an actual midfield to be the next cool trend.

 

[spontaneus1]

I'd like an actual midfield to be the next cool trend.

Maybe strikers who can score a goal?

 

[2 man midfield]

Maybe strikers who can score a goal?

And a working defence too. Not too much to ask is it?

 

[Feed Me]

Twenty minutes of hoofing the ball to Fellaini when chasing the game is not the one.

The major issue is that our manager is a charlatan.

 

[JPRouve]

Maybe strikers who can score a goal?

This, if our strikers weren't useless, we would be okay.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

CBs can't pass
Rafael is our best RB easily
Carrick is better than Blind
2 strikers doesn't work anymore
We got rid of all the pace in our team bar Di Maria
Welbeck and Chicharito at their worst over the years were better than our current strikers

 

[Castia]

LvG has to take a lot of responsibility, he's a experienced manager who is looking clueless with basic tactics, substitutions and team selections. I mean some managers get criticized for playing bad football, some get criticized for being bad in the transfer market but there's few managers I have seen in a league who gets so much criticism for doing so many basic things wrong. It's almost March and LvG is clueless when it comes to picking a team and having a gameplan, we have no identity at all yet he brings up the word philosophy on a weekly basis.

 

[mu77]

play like a team.

 

[Oddboy]

If GOALs are going in it must be our GOALkeeper, think about it. De Gea out.

please no

 

[Pexbo]

I'd like an actual midfield to be the next cool trend.

Blind
Herrera - Di Maria
Fellaini
​

How on earth is that not an actual midfield? Blind is a fans favourite player of the season competitor for us. Herrera everyone has been crying out for in midfield, Di Maria is a £60m Champions League Final MOTM genuinely world class midfielder while Fellaini adds steel and physicality to it and has gone a long way to winning over our fan base this season.

What change could you make with this squad to make it an actual midfield?

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I don't know what the actual problem is.

Part of it has to do with our defenders being a bit shite, though. Another explanation may be that whatever LVG is trying to implement hasn't properly sunk in yet across the board.

Whatever it is, it's LVG's problem. The fact that the Caf has failed to come up with a brilliant solution to our problems is neither here nor there.

 

[WR10]

Our strikers are just not putting away chances. We're doing everything else right.

 

[Raw]

It's the tactics really. Pointless, risk free possession. Players staying still in their positions. Strikers not making runs.

 

[Hed Zitin]

Everything except the keeper.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

LVG is the issue. Enough said.

 

[2 man midfield]

Blind
Herrera - Di Maria
Fellaini
​

How on earth is that not an actual midfield? Blind is a fans favourite player of the season competitor for us. Herrera everyone has been crying out for in midfield, Di Maria is a £60m Champions League Final MOTM genuinely world class midfielder while Fellaini adds steel and physicality to it and has gone a long way to winning over our fan base this season.

What change could you make with this squad to make it an actual midfield?

It is one, but not one we've seen very much of. I've posted in loads of threads wanting to see that, just not with Fellaini at number 10.

I do sometimes think Blind is left a little isolated at times, and we could use someone next to him. Carrick or Herrera would be my pick, with 3 ahead of them and one up front.

 

[Tarrou]

We're shit

 

[Pexbo]

1. CBs can't pass
2. Rafael is our best RB easily
3. Carrick is better than Blind
4. 2 strikers doesn't work anymore
5. We got rid of all the pace in our team bar Di Maria
6. Welbeck and Chicharito at their worst over the years were better than our current strikers

1. How do we remedy this?
2. He's injured. Again.
3. He's injured. Again.
4. Fair enough.
5. Welbeck? If that was all our pace we were in trouble anyway.
6. Absolute nonsense. Hernandez at his worst was as bad as any Premiership player I have seen while Welbeck at his worst as a striker couldn't hit a barn door.

 

[Pexbo]

It is one, but not one we've seen very much of. I've posted in loads of threads wanting to see that, just not with Fellaini at number 10.

I do sometimes think Blind is left a little isolated at times, and we could use someone next to him. Carrick or Herrera would be my pick, with 3 ahead of them and one up front.

Well you saw it today and it lost 2-1.

 

[Oddboy]

Blind
Herrera - Di Maria
Fellaini
​

How on earth is that not an actual midfield? Blind is a fans favourite player of the season competitor for us. Herrera everyone has been crying out for in midfield, Di Maria is a £60m Champions League Final MOTM genuinely world class midfielder while Fellaini adds steel and physicality to it and has gone a long way to winning over our fan base this season.

What change could you make with this squad to make it an actual midfield?

In fairness that's not the problem. It's the remaining lineup which doesn't complement that diamond, surely? A static front 2 and full backs who aren't quite up to the task because they have no confidence in the rest of the defence. Makes for grim watching.

 

[JPRouve]

On the 19 goals that we scored in 2015, 6 have been scored by strikers and 2 of them are penalties.

 

[Someone]

You make it sound as if van gaal listens to what we want and acts accordingly, he's still responsible for none of the above actually working. The fact that we're still experimenting with line ups and systems in February isn't helping anyone.

I still disagree with some of your points though, we do play better without the 3-5-2, that much is clear to me, and herrera is actually doing very well, however, something in the final 3rd isn't right.

I'm starting to think that the players don't really get van gaal the way he thinks they do.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

1. How do we remedy this?
2. He's injured. Again.
3. He's injured. Again.
4. Fair enough.
5. Welbeck? If that was all our pace we were in trouble anyway.
6. Absolute nonsense. Hernandez at his worst was as bad as any Premiership player I have seen while Welbeck at his worst as a striker couldn't hit a barn door.

We always played better with Welbeck playing whether he scored or not. And Chicharito was poor in his last season but is always a goal threat and doesn't require 300 grand a week. Also, Falcao's touch has been just as bad as Chicharito's.

 

[Pexbo]

It's the tactics really. Pointless, risk free possession. Players staying still in their positions. Strikers not making runs.

I don't think today was risk free at all today. We passed it around their area a bit trying to work an angle. With the way their defence was soaking up crosses, particularly Fabianski would you rather we took the Moyes vs Fulham approach?

In fairness that's not the problem. It's the remaining lineup which doesn't complement that diamond, surely? A static front 2 and full backs who aren't quite up to the task because they have no confidence in the rest of the defence. Makes for grim watching.

I thought Shaw was one of our best players today, he blasted forwards numerous times which suggests confidence. McNair was struggling with Shelvy supporting their attacks down his side and Herrera wasn't doing enough to help him. I don't think it was something Jones could have helped with as he had Sigurdsun and Gomes to deal with.

As for the strikers, does that mean Rooney isn't mobile enough either? I think it was Van Persie's finishing that was the biggest issue today.

 

[Amethyst]

De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Herrera, Blind; Di Maria, Mata, Young; Rooney

^ That is the team I'd pick next match in a 4-2-3-1. Di Maria and Young giving us pace and width, Mata in his best position behind Rooney and I'd have Herrera sat slightly deeper next to Blind instead of to the side of a diamond because too often I feel Blind is left with too much to do. That would hopefully give Smalling and Rojo more options from the back and Valencia and Shaw would have help in wingers ahead of them so they don't have to turn back and play it square all the time.

 

[Kill 'em all]

We don't play like a team.

 

[Raoul]

The issue is we are not playing as a confident team, which is down to LvG. Its what allows a side like Southampton to be virtually level on points with us and punch well above their weight and leaves us flattering to deceive. Wenger calls is squad solidarity, I call it playing like the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - playing as a galvanized unit who are in sync with one another. That's the only thing we are missing at the moment. You can throw formations, tactics, and hollywood signing x or y into the equation, but at the end of the day all of those are meaningless if the team psychology is out of sync.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Play Rooney and Wilson up front. To me, that's the only selection issue from Van Gaal.

Main issue is that the players have no end-product at the moment. Of all the creative players have in our ranks, we're unable to actually put in a decent ball in or make that killer pass. Young is probably our best player in that regard.

 

[cpmurphy]

Its down to the players. they played some wonderful first touch football preseason and looked like they could score for fun. now it seems they are to scared to take a chance they take a second and third touch before passing it wide where its then passed backwards. They no longer seem to be enjoying playing. there is very little movement off the ball, no one is playing by instinct and instead they are trying to hold to a formation and not make runs into the box in case possession is lost and they are found out of position. im sure in training they are been told to hold to where they positioned. this is leaving it very easy for other teams to defend against and counter attack. LVG needs to get them enjoying playing football again and to have more faith in their own abilities.

 

[bosnian_red]

Well with Herrera getting back into the side we beat Preston in the fa cup then lost today, not sure how you got dropped 5 points from that.

But there's plenty of problems. Many of the things we've all complained about.

• 3-5-2 is shite
• Diamond is also shite and unbalanced, but more exciting then the 3-5-2 going forward (not saying much)
• Falcao/Van Persie are both too slow and ineffective, can't play together but shouldn't play at all more importantly. Both, not just the one
• Rooney isn't a midfielder (hopefully LvG has realized this)
• Di Maria isn't a striker (though to be fair, Van Gaal has realized this)
• Herrera is a class midfielder (backed up by pretty much every time he's on the pitch looking like one of our best players) yet hardly plays
• Too much focus on possession and playing it safe instead of taking risks with the ball
• Why is Mata on the bench? If we want to keep possession, he's probably the best in the squad at it while Fellaini's main asset is bringing down long balls or winning headers. Hardly possession football stuff.
• Defence is always injured leading to constant chopping and changing at the back, and generally inexperienced or not quite good enough
• You need pace in your team to play exciting football
• You need pace to stretch defences and play any type of cohesive football, be it pace and risks in the passing and play, or pace from individuals
• Awful defensive organization from set pieces (we've conceded over 40% of our goals from set pieces I think)

From the top of my head. You can't just pick and choose one and ignore the rest. Falcao and RvP both need to be dropped. Dropping one is a start but the other half of them is still there. The diamond very rarely works. It will never work when your front 3 is composed of Rooney, Van Persie and Fellaini. Fellaini is a useful player in certain circumstances, he shouldn't be starting games though, especially not when the aim is to have a passing style of play and play with the ball on the ground and have the likes of Herrera, Rooney, RvP, Di Maria and Blind around him. He sticks out like a sore thumb as being out of place in the hole. We can't just throw Herrera in and expect everything to be magically fixed when the side is still unbalanced because of the stupid team selections persisting on using slow and static strikers and rely on your fullbacks for width, fullbacks who are sometimes mainly center backs or sometimes fullbacks who don't know how to cross or get forward properly. We can't just put Rooney up top but partner him with Van persie in a diamond and expect it to work, when have those 2 ever played well together?

What we need, is to stop playing the fecking diamond, play with width like every other top team around, be it a 4-4-1-1, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, take a few risks with the ball and make things happen, up the tempo of our passing considerably so we can consistently look threatening instead of aimlessly passing it around the back 4, stop playing players woefully out of positions or playing players that don't suit the tactic that the team is set out to play, drop the under performing, aging, poor strikers and play players who are more deserving of game time like Herrera, Mata, Young or even Januzaj, play a balanced team all around and stop blaming the formation on a lack of balance when really the only reason for that is because the manager feels the need to try and fit in Di Maria, Falcao, Van Persie and Rooney all in the same team with only Blind in midfield.

 

[Pexbo]

The issue is we are not playing as a confident team, which is down to LvG. Its what allows a side like Southampton to be virtually level on points with us and punch well above their weight and leaves us flattering to deceive. Wenger calls is squad solidarity, I call it playing like the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - playing as a galvanized unit who are in sync with one another. That's the only thing we are missing at the moment. You can throw formations, tactics, and hollywood signing x or y into the equation, but at the end of the day all of those are meaningless if the team psychology is out of sync.

I fully agree. I think we are missing one player being in form that drags the rest of them up. It was Van Persie 2 years ago but he's on the way out, it should probably be Di Maria but I don't think he is settled into the rythum of the league just yet and it should definitely be Rooney but he's been played out of position so maybe hasn't had the chance to. Other than that I just don't think we have anyone who can inspire the rest and win us matches and I think it's something that will be addressed in the summer.

 

[bosnian_red]

Blind
Herrera - Di Maria
Fellaini
​

How on earth is that not an actual midfield? Blind is a fans favourite player of the season competitor for us. Herrera everyone has been crying out for in midfield, Di Maria is a £60m Champions League Final MOTM genuinely world class midfielder while Fellaini adds steel and physicality to it and has gone a long way to winning over our fan base this season.

What change could you make with this squad to make it an actual midfield?

Move them around formation wise. When we use the diamond, Di Maria plays like a left winger and the one on the right has to be half a central midfielder and half an outlet on the right flank, while Fellaini plays as a target man. Again, it leaves Blind far too isolated in the middle. Just sacrifice a forward, put players on the wing so they can occupy wide positions but also help out the fullbacks defensively and you still have your players in the middle, and then you still have a forward up top, and our forwards all can play up top on their own or have shown their best form when played up top on their own.

 

[Someone]

The issue is we are not playing as a confident team, which is down to LvG. Its what allows a side like Southampton to be virtually level on points with us and punch well above their weight and leaves us flattering to deceive. Wenger calls is squad solidarity, I call it playing like the whole is greater than the sum of the parts - playing as a galvanized unit who are in sync with one another. That's the only thing we are missing at the moment. You can throw formations, tactics, and hollywood signing x or y into the equation, but at the end of the day all of those are meaningless if the team psychology is out of sync.

Spot on.

 

[mattsville]

From what I have seen so far it is experimentation mixed with conservative tactics. We had the issue of the WC impacting on preseason and a defensive injury crisis early on which you can attribute some of the blame to, but when you see the calibre of attacking players we have every week and the way we lineup and go at games we are not playing to our strengths. Regardless of how brazen, confident and resolute LVG has been in press conferences, what he says before matches does not transpire on the pitch, he is perfectly honest after the games though.

 

[Jacob]

Just put Rooney up front and Mata in behind, that would be a fecking start.

 

[Nick 0208 Ldn]

1. How do we remedy this?
2. He's injured. Again.
3. He's injured. Again.
4. Fair enough.
5. Welbeck? If that was all our pace we were in trouble anyway.
6. Absolute nonsense. Hernandez at his worst was as bad as any Premiership player I have seen while Welbeck at his worst as a striker couldn't hit a barn door.

1. Don't spend most of the season attempting to impose a system which hinges upon such.
2. He's not.
5. Do you think that Van Gaal's decision to sell Welbeck has proved to be the right one? Of course with the methodical and controlled approach which the manager favours, pace does lose some of its impact.
6. Danny scored what was it, 7 goals in 9 games when Rooney and RVP were both out injured last season? Even Hernandez bagged himself nine goals in what was a pretty trying year for him.

 

[Zoo]

Twenty minutes of hoofing the ball to Fellaini when chasing the game is not the one.

The major issue is that our manager is a charlatan.

It wasn't twenty minutes. Stop exaggerating.

 

[Jacob]

Wonder how this would work if we went back to basics:

DDG
RAFAEL-----------SMALLING------------EVANS---------------SHAW
VALENCIA----------CARRICK----------BLIND---------------DI MARIA
MATA
ROONEY​

 

[Asger]

@Pexbo Rafael has been fit for month or longer.