Could Van Gaal convince you to give him one more season?

[NJM78]

I 'love' that you still haven't grasped that Van Gaal deliberately shrunk the squad so that our response to injuries would be to use youngsters. Of course he didn't want an injury crisis but he set the squad up such that when we had injuries it would be youngsters, not squad-chaff like Anderson, Buttner, Hernandez etc, who would fill the gaps. He's often referred to his preference for this approach, he's done it at all his previous clubs, he said he was going to do it with us, and then he did it with us. Kind of odd how many people refuse to acknowledge it despite that overwhelming evidence.

It's true what you are saying but what irks me is when we play bad and lose its the fault of injuries and youth players having to play but when we win with youth players playing its because of his management genius with bringing through kids and his purposely small squad. He cant have it both ways.

 

[RedDevil@84]

It's true what you are saying but what irks me is when we play bad and lose its the fault of injuries and youth players having to play but when we win with youth players playing its because of his management genius with bringing through kids and his purposely small squad. He cant have it both ways.

Looks like you have missed a lot of stuff on caf. Most people on caf have attributed almost all the dropped points only to LvG.

 

[devilish]

There's no youth revival. We're playing youths because we have no choice. We pissed off our squad players (a good number of them were also our own youths while others were players we signed only to show them the door few months later) and then ended up having to play kids due to injury. Rashford wouldn't have had a sniff of first team football if Rooney and Martial weren't injured. LVG preferred an off form Rooney to him.

 

[devilish]

I 'love' that you still haven't grasped that Van Gaal deliberately shrunk the squad so that our response to injuries would be to use youngsters. Of course he didn't want an injury crisis but he set the squad up such that when we had injuries it would be youngsters, not squad-chaff like Anderson, Buttner, Hernandez etc, who would fill the gaps. He's often referred to his preference for this approach, he's done it at all his previous clubs, he said he was going to do it with us, and then he did it with us. Kind of odd how many people refuse to acknowledge it despite that overwhelming evidence.

So let me guess. He pissed off and sold squad players (some of whom were actually homegrown talent too) AND players he just signed few months ago (one of which was rated 60m) just to play youths. Smart. So tell if he had so much faith in Rashford then why didn't he play him instead an off form Rooney? Why did he wait for Rooney and Martial to get injured before releasing this force of nature? Same with defense. Why he insist in playing midfielders in defense instead of playing youths? Surely someone like Louis Van Gaal who believes so much in youths would rather play a youngster then players who are uncomfortable in that role and will never improve there?

There's a big difference between introducing youths and relying on youths because there's no other option. When SAF introduced the class of 92 he made sure that these youths were surrounded by experienced players who would help them and well versed to the formations he used. But there again SAF isn't the type of manager who would lose his job because he risked failing/failed to qualify to the CL with frigging Barcelona and Bayern

 

[RedDevil@84]

So let me guess. He pissed off and sold squad players (some of whom were actually homegrown talent too) AND players he just signed few months ago (one of which was rated 60m) just to play youths. Smart. So tell if he had so much faith in Rashford then why didn't he play him instead an off form Rooney? Why did he wait for Rooney and Martial to get injured before releasing this force of nature? Same with defense. Why he insist in playing midfielders in defense instead of playing youths? Surely someone like Louis Van Gaal who believes so much in youths would rather play a youngster then players who are uncomfortable in that role and will never improve there?

There's a big difference between introducing youths and relying on youths because there's no other option. When SAF introduced the class of 92 he made sure that these youths were surrounded by experienced players who would help them and well versed to the formations he used. But there again SAF isn't the type of manager who would lose his job because he risked failing/failed to qualify to the CL with frigging Barcelona and Bayern

I think both of you are talking about 2 different things..
You are talking about LvG bringing youth into first team - Or becoming the no 1 choice in a given position
@Brightonian meanwhile is talking about LvG making sure that the youth would automatically become the No 2 or 3 choice in the squad, which would not have been possible if we had a larger squad with non-youth (non-academy) backups for every position.

 

[pocco]

I've gone off the idea of Mourinho a bit. Now that we've got so many youngsters in and around the team, I want that to carry on. I'm not sure if I even want to risk Mourinho coming in and overlooking them for expensive signings.

Ideally we'd replace Van Gaal with a more youth orientated coach. As I've said, I'd be more than willing to give Giggs a shot.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Of course they can, if the target for him this season was a cup and a top 2 finish.

Was that his target for the season?

 

[Randall Flagg]

I've gone off the idea of Mourinho a bit. Now that we've got so many youngsters in and around the team, I want that to carry on. I'm not sure if I even want to risk Mourinho coming in and overlooking them for expensive signings.

Ideally we'd replace Van Gaal with a more youth orientated coach. As I've said, I'd be more than willing to give Giggs a shot.

damn right

Jose would be a horrible choice. I would hate to see him anywhere near the club

 

[devilish]

I think both of you are talking about 2 different things..
You are talking about LvG bringing youth into first team - Or becoming the no 1 choice in a given position
@Brightonian meanwhile is talking about LvG making sure that the youth would automatically become the No 2 or 3 choice in the squad, which would not have been possible if we had a larger squad with non-youth (non-academy) backups for every position.

Its the same thing worded in different ways. There's nothing to suggest that if a manager believes that a youth player is good enough than he can't play ahead of a squad player. FFS we've played two inexperienced kids (Giggs and Gaz) ahead of seasoned English internationals. The problem with our kids after the 92 was that we didn't produced quality kids in the first place. Apart from Pogba and maybe Pique none of the players we allowed to go turned up to be world class while we also gave plenty of game time to the likes of Phil, OShea and Cleverley, whom, without being homegrown talent, they wouldn't even imagine of playing at a top side for so many games. Large squads are a necessity to win in the EPL. However, is carefully managed we could still have a healthy stream of homegrown talent playing for us as SAF proved, time and time again.

This small squad thing is not some great strategy by LVG but a big mess up. His horrific man management pissed off players big time (including players he signed few months earlier) and he was left with no choice but to play with a small squad. There's a limit to how many players can be signed at a limited period of time and we were left out with an unbalanced and ridiculously small squad which suffered an injury meltdown and was forced to play youths. LVG's team lack composure and is in confusion as senile keep playing players out of positions, switching systems and coming out with weird ideas which are stupid even on football manager

I can respect those who think that Maureen isn't the right manager for us. However I refuse to believe that LVG knows what he's doing. Time and time again he showed that he's got no clue/

 

[Stretford End Phil]

I think we all know its almost certain he will be replaced next season but what would it take for him to convince you to give him one more year?

I'm enjoying the fact that we have played a lot of youth players in the last few games and the performance in Europa League and Liverpool showed some signs of positivity. If Van Gaal could lead us to top four would you be against him staying another year? If we played in a style similar to Midtylland and Liverpool for the rest of the season? If he continued to bring youth through?

Would he need to win a trophy to have your support? Or has he burnt all his bridges?

So is there anything he could do between now and the end of the season to convince you to give him one more year?

Nothing changes my mind about wanting LVG gone. Three games haven't changed my opinion and nor has the inclusion of youth players. The young lads are being thrown in by a desperate man whose calamitous transfer policy has waxed and waned over 2 seasons. The youth are there because of so many crocs and not enough first team squad at the start of the season. When Chico was sold, it wasn't because Rashford was just waiting to score braces every match. The sheer volume of players LVG has used in 2 seasons is pathetic and it doesn't stop because he still needs to buy defenders.

Our position in the league might have been worse if the results had been more predictable and the season a little less chaotic. That being said £250 million hasn't bought us good football across the season. Games like Stoke should not be easily forgotten nor the ridiculous use of buzz words to shift attention from LVG's exceptionally poor decisions.

Nice that we see good football at last, but it's fleeting. Watford was a scare and wasted so many chances they might have buried us. We escaped by the skin of our teeth and we're still not safe for the CL. Yes bring some silver to ensure CL status but let's beware of where we stack up across a season of generally poor showing.

As to Jose as an option, I think that would be a backward step. It's time to move forward with a modern manager to rival Pep. Not sure who that might be, possibly the Bournemouth manager who creates fantastic team spirit.

 

[Minimalist]

I 'love' that you still haven't grasped that Van Gaal deliberately shrunk the squad so that our response to injuries would be to use youngsters. Of course he didn't want an injury crisis but he set the squad up such that when we had injuries it would be youngsters, not squad-chaff like Anderson, Buttner, Hernandez etc, who would fill the gaps. He's often referred to his preference for this approach, he's done it at all his previous clubs, he said he was going to do it with us, and then he did it with us. Kind of odd how many people refuse to acknowledge it despite that overwhelming evidence.

Him playing Fellaini as a striker (over say Wilson) early on suggests that wasn't totally the plan. The youngsters have only came on the scene recently.

 

[golden_blunder]

There's a big difference between introducing youths and relying on youths because there's no other option. When SAF introduced the class of 92 he made sure that these youths were surrounded by experienced players who would help them and well versed to the formations he used. But there again SAF isn't the type of manager who would lose his job because he risked failing/failed to qualify to the CL with frigging Barcelona and Bayern

Also Fergie stated that he deliberately let Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis go in the same off-season as he couldn't hold Butt, Beckham, Scholes, Neville, etc. back any longer. He felt they were ready and hungry

 

[GBBQ]

The ridiculous thing is, despite how poor we have been at times we could potentially improve on last year's 4th place. Leicester or Spurs could bottle it, City are only 3 points ahead of us and Arsenal's poor run isn't going to be helped with Cech's injury. 3rd is definitely not beyond the realms of possibility.

My thoughts were that we allow LVG see out the season (mid season change of manager is messy at best) and that we should look to hire in the summer. I really think that only a title win should give him a reprieve based on how clueless we have looked and how stubborn he has been tactically. I think if the player unrest is as bad as the papers make out then he will go, regardless.

 

[devilish]

Also Fergie stated that he deliberately let Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis go in the same off-season as he couldn't hold Butt, Beckham, Scholes, Neville, etc. back any longer. He felt they were ready and hungry

The first thing SAF did when he became manager was to standardise the entire system. Everyone from the ones who trained the kids to his assistant manager knew exactly the standards expected, was tactics we were using and used those tactics to make sure every kid were well versed in our system. In contrast no one knows what the hell LVG has in mind. He tried 3-5-2, then a narrow 4-4-2, then 4-3-3 and afterwards 4-2-3-1.

SAF's starting introducing youths long before the 95 season. Ryan Giggs become first teamer 3 years earlier and was surrounded by players like Irwin, Ince, Keane, Hughes and Cantona who made sure to supervise him throughout the way. A year or two later Gaz took his place as first teamer, in a defense made up of Pally, Bruce, Irwin and Schmeichel with Kanchelskis in front of him and then Cantona's suspension brought in Scholes who did magnificently upfront only to be sent on the bench and reappear few months as a midfielder (SAF didn't trust him as a forward just yet and wouldn't trust him even after Cantona retired. In fact he brought in Teddy). By the time the remaining class of 92 were introduced they were well versed with the system, they had a number of first team caps under their cap which including European experience and they were surrounded by giants of football such as Pally, Bruce, Irwin, Schmeichel, Keane, Cantona etc. They could also rely on their most experienced friends (Giggs and Nev) whom by that time knew what regular first team football was all about.

That's the proper way of bringing in youths. LVG is just a mess, a sad consequence of a fire fighting process which I hope it will end soon. Having said that it was quite revealing to people including LVG and me. We do have quality kids still roaming around

 

[R'hllor]

Love how people think that keeping off form Rooney is black and white thing.

 

[Needham]

It was a sneaky trick on LvG's part to pre-announce that he would retire after the end of his contract and wouldn't seek another. Otherwise there would be perfect clarity about the need to move on now or at the end of the season. Offering the chance of a smooth sacking-free transition if we just let him keep his job introduces the temptation of retaining him just to stick to an original long-term plan, probably involving Giggs.

 

[jderbyshire]

So 36% would sack Van Gaal even if he won the league?

Madness.

Let's just change our name to Real Manchester and get it over with.

 

[JPRouve]

So 36% would sack Van Gaal even if he won the league?

Madness.

Let's just change our name to Real Manchester and get it over with.

It's a little bit more complicated than just win a league.

 

[NJM78]

Looks like you have missed a lot of stuff on caf. Most people on caf have attributed almost all the dropped points only to LvG.

I'm one who likes to lay majority of blame on LvG and rightly so but yes injuries can cost any team and young players are mostly inconsistent. So LvG cannot take all the praise when we have some good results with our depleted team if he is unwilling to take the blame himself when we lose and not use the excuse that we have a depleted team as it is all his doing (if that makes sense!?).
He keeps harping on about it being his choice on having a small squad so he shouldn't feel at all surprised if he gets the boot for not accomplishing his minimum expectations this season which I read were 3rd place and a cup win, which he could still actually manage although very unlikely. Him having us playing coma inducing football and breaking constant negative records for the majority of his tenure is a different matter all together and just other reasons why most want him out.

 

[NJM78]

So 36% would sack Van Gaal even if he won the league?

Madness.

Let's just change our name to Real Manchester and get it over with.

I think that is because we will not win the league, the option I thought was more tongue in cheek.
Plus we'd still be slightly less impressive than Real and 13 different managers since 2000.

 

[Fitchett]

No, because I think he's complacent. When it's balls-to-the-wall he can pull out a couple of good results but then when pressure subsides it's always back to phoned-in, limp-wristed performances. As if he has the energy to get his team's collective arses in gear when there's particular pressure to do so but when that immediate imperative subsides he struggles.

Not everyone is an Alex Ferguson and can maintain that energy and drive required to succeed at a club like United in their senior years. If, as seems to be to be the case, that Van Gaal struggles to motivate his players/himself unless there's pressure to do so then I don't see how he can carry on. We need a manager who can get players going every week, not just when there's supporter unrest and then grab a few decent results to placate them.

Spot on.

 

[Santiago_KinderBueno]

I 'love' that you still haven't grasped that Van Gaal deliberately shrunk the squad so that our response to injuries would be to use youngsters. Of course he didn't want an injury crisis but he set the squad up such that when we had injuries it would be youngsters, not squad-chaff like Anderson, Buttner, Hernandez etc, who would fill the gaps. He's often referred to his preference for this approach, he's done it at all his previous clubs, he said he was going to do it with us, and then he did it with us. Kind of odd how many people refuse to acknowledge it despite that overwhelming evidence.

Don't bother. I been trying to say it even before it has becomes so painfully obvious and then there is people still refusing to accept this.

Players like Januzaj & Wilson don't need a manager to give debuts. What they need is consistent game time something Van Gaal cannot give as of yet.

When it comes to youth no one is better than Van Gaal. The only way we will beat Barcelona & Bayern is if we build our own style of football built up with kids playing one style of football.

I personally feel that the longer we have LVG, the better it is for our youth and therefore our far future (not our present).

I mean you have kids beating arsenal, Danish champions and generally helping around this team come up to 4th in the league. It isn't a great success but you have to wonder what these kids will do when they come up to their prime.

 

[Stacks]

He turned the first 11, into utter dogshite, sad how people have such amazingly short term memories and change their opinions in a flash. Thank God they all got injured as we`d be still losing every match and barely able to score one goal if we were lucky. The youth team have not been philosophised by LVG, and they play with fearlessness and adventure of young players, taking risks etc. I`ve had enough of LVG he needs to be gone at end of this season. The guy is a sham to me, just living of his past achievements with Ajax almost 20 years ago, winning a title with Barcelona and Bayern, even Tony Pulis as a manager of those 2 clubs could win a league title

Spoken like a "Roy Keane"

 

[Viral United]

Thankfully my memory remind me more then 4 games.
There is no point of having him.

If Watford strikers had capitalize those 3 chance we wouldn't have this thread and discussion about how amazing our youth are.

 

[RedorDead21]

Depends, if there is noise about (at least trying to) sell Rooney, the young players really thrive between now and the end and the football is great, then I don't really care about where we finish and I'd like to him to be able to carry all that on.

Otherwise, well, can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

This. The kids do well
And we have a strong end of season and finish top 4 and perhaps a trophy how can anyone say we should change again. If that doesn't happen then ok look elsewhere. Too early to judge for me this could yet prove a great season. Another series of results go our way this weekend and people will be talking about a lot more than 4th!

 

[Utd7]

Totally agree!! LVG has lowered fans expectations so far that it's actually worrying. With the money spent over the last 2 years and the horrendously shite form of our rivals, anything less than winning the league this season should be seen as an absolute failure on the part of the management team.

We will never see another season where collectively City, Chelsea and Arsenal are all shit at the same time. This was our big chance to capitalise on their form and we've failed.

Exactly and when you also look at our performance this season as a whole and evaluate each result, it's been incredibly disappointing. If we beat Norwich at home and Sunderland, two relegation competing teams, we would be right in the title race.

 

[Amadaeus]

If the alternative replacement for Van Gaal is Mourinho, I feel we will find ourselves in a Morton's fork paradox; in which the repercussions to appoint one or keep the other will result in the same result when all is said and done.

Or perhaps the Parrondo's paradox is more fitting with these two individuals because despite their flaws, their is a possibility they could develop winning strategies to compete for the title.

If leceister can do it, their shouldn't be a reason why managers with almost ten times the income and quality players couldn't. So, at this point, I feel we will not do that much better if the alternative is Mourinho unless he has become a changed man. As such, I m undecided if the alternative to Van Gaal is Mourinho. I m not a fan of managers who buys winning team nor am I a fan of Van Gaal indecision and luck. So, I m in a Parrondo's paradox at the moment because it is like picking two losing strategies(albeit I haven't taking into account that Mourinho might have changed).

 

[Stacks]

I think both of you are talking about 2 different things..
You are talking about LvG bringing youth into first team - Or becoming the no 1 choice in a given position
@Brightonian meanwhile is talking about LvG making sure that the youth would automatically become the No 2 or 3 choice in the squad, which would not have been possible if we had a larger squad with non-youth (non-academy) backups for every position.

Tell me the youngsters that are 2 and 3 choice? they are roughly 4th and 5th choice in most positions which is where they are in other clubs. only playing due to extreme circumstances. Upfront our preferred options were, Rooney, Martial, Fellaini, Keane, and Rashford (5th choice) only got his chance in their absence. At RB Varela never got a look in as we would play Darmian, Valencia, Young, Mcnair ("Paddy Mcnair could be our first choice RB for 10 years"). LB went like this Shaw, Young, Rojo/Blind and then CBJ (5th choice). The difference is LVG prefers to have a few utility players rather than have multiple players for each position which seems to have shortened our squad depth.

 

[Stacks]

This. The kids do well
And we have a strong end of season and finish top 4 and perhaps a trophy how can anyone say we should change again. If that doesn't happen then ok look elsewhere. Too early to judge for me this could yet prove a great season. Another series of results go our way this weekend and people will be talking about a lot more than 4th!

Define "great" season.

 

[Ventura]

There's no youth revival. We're playing youths because we have no choice. We pissed off our squad players (a good number of them were also our own youths while others were players we signed only to show them the door few months later) and then ended up having to play kids due to injury. Rashford wouldn't have had a sniff of first team football if Rooney and Martial weren't injured. LVG preferred an off form Rooney to him.

I'd rather play our youngsters with potential than previous squad players who were proven to be average.

 

[RedorDead21]

Define "great" season.

We could potentially win 2 cups and be involved in the title race down to the last game of the season. I'd say that was great.

 

[ghagua]

Its the same thing worded in different ways. There's nothing to suggest that if a manager believes that a youth player is good enough than he can't play ahead of a squad player. FFS we've played two inexperienced kids (Giggs and Gaz) ahead of seasoned English internationals. The problem with our kids after the 92 was that we didn't produced quality kids in the first place. Apart from Pogba and maybe Pique none of the players we allowed to go turned up to be world class while we also gave plenty of game time to the likes of Phil, OShea and Cleverley, whom, without being homegrown talent, they wouldn't even imagine of playing at a top side for so many games. Large squads are a necessity to win in the EPL. However, is carefully managed we could still have a healthy stream of homegrown talent playing for us as SAF proved, time and time again.

This small squad thing is not some great strategy by LVG but a big mess up. His horrific man management pissed off players big time (including players he signed few months earlier) and he was left with no choice but to play with a small squad. There's a limit to how many players can be signed at a limited period of time and we were left out with an unbalanced and ridiculously small squad which suffered an injury meltdown and was forced to play youths. LVG's team lack composure and is in confusion as senile keep playing players out of positions, switching systems and coming out with weird ideas which are stupid even on football manager

I can respect those who think that Maureen isn't the right manager for us. However I refuse to believe that LVG knows what he's doing. Time and time again he showed that he's got no clue/

Nothing changes my mind about wanting LVG gone. Three games haven't changed my opinion and nor has the inclusion of youth players. The young lads are being thrown in by a desperate man whose calamitous transfer policy has waxed and waned over 2 seasons. The youth are there because of so many crocs and not enough first team squad at the start of the season. When Chico was sold, it wasn't because Rashford was just waiting to score braces every match. The sheer volume of players LVG has used in 2 seasons is pathetic and it doesn't stop because he still needs to buy defenders.

Our position in the league might have been worse if the results had been more predictable and the season a little less chaotic. That being said £250 million hasn't bought us good football across the season. Games like Stoke should not be easily forgotten nor the ridiculous use of buzz words to shift attention from LVG's exceptionally poor decisions.

Nice that we see good football at last, but it's fleeting. Watford was a scare and wasted so many chances they might have buried us. We escaped by the skin of our teeth and we're still not safe for the CL. Yes bring some silver to ensure CL status but let's beware of where we stack up across a season of generally poor showing.

As to Jose as an option, I think that would be a backward step. It's time to move forward with a modern manager to rival Pep. Not sure who that might be, possibly the Bournemouth manager who creates fantastic team spirit.

All of his philosophy shite has gone out of the window because it was not working. Now his mantra is about his legacy of introducing youth players into the first team.

 

[Stacks]

We could potentially win 2 cups and be involved in the title race down to the last game of the season. I'd say that was great.

It would go down as one of the "greatest comeback" seasons for sure. We have been under-performing for the most part but yeah, if we end the season near the title points tally and win a few cups, then you can't argue with that. gotta be realistic though. what have you seen to suggest that we are suddenly going to become consistent enough to be able to compete in the title race? We also have a shed loads of points to make up for an inconsistent team that "plays worse with our 1st team players" lol

 

[Shimo]

He wins at least 8 of our next league games and gets us one trophy from FA or Europa league - I'd do it in a heartbeat. Would make no sense if he has the team winning and going into next season on a high to fire him especially if you think that the time to fire him would have been when we were playing terrible and losing/drawing.

Consider 5 of our next 10 league games are against Everton, Leicester City, Man City, Spurs, West Ham. Getting to 8 wins would be quite a feat.

Don't see it happening but, I'll take it if happens.

 

[devilish]

I'd rather play our youngsters with potential than previous squad players who were proven to be average.

I agree. However there's a good and a bad thing to introduce anything in life even youngsters. In SAF case, youths were introduced with a plan in mind. The youth talent knew our tactics and were usually surrounded by experienced players who could cover their arse if things go wrong. With LVG, no one seem to know what his philosophy is, systems and players get changed (and sometimes bought and then quickly sold) regularly and youths are being used as a last line of defense because we've got no other choice.

 

[MoskvaRed]

Success in the cups or a higher league finish than looked likely 3 weeks ago shouldn't influence the decision to keep him. What we are seeing is not the culmination of nearly 2 years' work finally coming to fruition. Rather it's a man whose Plan A resulted in ineffective and utterly tedious football and who, faced with an injury crisis and with nothing to lose nor any real alternative, throws in a load of young players. If things had gone to plan, we'd be looking at a top 7 finish playing one paced football with Rooney and Fellaini. I hope he does go out on a high as, unlike Moyes, I kind of like the old bugger but 2 seasons of the philosophy is quite enough.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I'm one who likes to lay majority of blame on LvG and rightly so but yes injuries can cost any team and young players are mostly inconsistent. So LvG cannot take all the praise when we have some good results with our depleted team if he is unwilling to take the blame himself when we lose and not use the excuse that we have a depleted team as it is all his doing (if that makes sense!?).
He keeps harping on about it being his choice on having a small squad so he shouldn't feel at all surprised if he gets the boot for not accomplishing his minimum expectations this season which I read were 3rd place and a cup win, which he could still actually manage although very unlikely. Him having us playing coma inducing football and breaking constant negative records for the majority of his tenure is a different matter all together and just other reasons why most want him out.

Not sure what you mean by LvG taking majority of blame. I will assume that you mean people attributing majority of blame to LvG.
My point was that at least on caf, more and more people have attributed majority of losses to LvG. So the statement that LvG does not get blamed for losing matches but gets praised while winning does not happen on caf at least.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

I think both of you are talking about 2 different things..
You are talking about LvG bringing youth into first team - Or becoming the no 1 choice in a given position
@Brightonian meanwhile is talking about LvG making sure that the youth would automatically become the No 2 or 3 choice in the squad, which would not have been possible if we had a larger squad with non-youth (non-academy) backups for every position.

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[Roboc7]

Realistically the best he can do is scrape fourth and win the FA cup, in a weak league he will have made little progress at best, he also hasn't established a style or pattern of play or anything close to a settled team.

Given he is retiring in a year, he had to show significant progress for the club to back him as that situation is never ideal, his position will basically be untenable so I see no other scenario other than him retiring or being sacked in the summer and I think is the correct choice for all involved.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

All of his philosophy shite has gone out of the window because it was not working. Now his mantra is about his legacy of introducing youth players into the first team.

You clearly never understood the philosophy in the first place.

You are focusing too much on the youth being played at the moment. They are only a small part of the squad, if we did not have the injuries, they may (not a fact) have been introduced, nobody is saying it was planned for them to be first team players. However, he did give Adnan, Wilson, Pereira, Lingard, McNair, Blackett to name some a chance, they did not deliver. The current crop have performed considerably better than those given a chance before.