Was Louis Van Gaal our best "coach" in the post Fergie years?

[Skills]

To start off, I'll say his recruitment was dreadful and his vision for football downright sleep inducing at times.

But in terms of the influence he had over the players individually and as a group, to me he was clearly the best at getting them to do what he wanted on the pitch. That was clear from the first couple of games he took charge in. You knew what you were expecting from his team when they went out on the pitch - even if it wasn't pretty. The players I think also developed best under him - he had a transformative effect especially on Smalling and De Gea. De Gea was sweeping under him and became a lot more comfortable coming out of the box. Smalling became a more dominant CB.

His signings were genuinely dreadful though. His vision was outdated, but his implementation of it was actually quite good. Anyone else feel the same way?

 

[clarkydaz]

i have city fans who say similar, he was the best weve had. It was really the last 3rd he struggled with, in time he may have caved into pressure to attack and finished the job.

 

[Florida Man]

Those 2015 games against Spurs, Liverpool (Juanfield), and City were probably the best football I’ve witnessed post-Fergie. Even the Chelsea game where we lost was still played well.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Yes. He was clearly successful at implementing a style and philosophy.

Unfortunately, the style was boring and the philosophy antiquated and the football as a result was tedious and shite.

 

[AshRK]

I don't know about the best manager part but he had the best ideas but his execution was the worst. Man those 0-0 draws were painful. I will even go on to say we played the most boring football under him.

 

[villain]

Yes, but it's a really low bar.

 

[sullydnl]

Yes. He was clearly successful at implementing a style and philosophy.

Unfortunately, the style was boring and the philosophy antiquated and the football as a result was tedious and shite.

100%

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Yes, but the football was pretty awful.

He find a good formula, but changed it.

Carrick was key to the possesion football, but replaced with Morgan and Bastian who both totally failed.

 

[Florida Man]

Also worth mentioning that his second season went backwards in terms of style. I can’t recall a single entertaining game, though my memory doesn’t recall all games either. It was good that we won the FA Cup but that really papered over the cracks

 

[izec]

Yes

 

[CM]

He definitely had the most conviction in his ideas but that also often came to his detriment.

I certainly had a lot more time for van Gaal than I did for Moyes or Mourinho though. We were always too slow with the ball but he did at least make an attempt to play with it. Even now we're regularly ceding possession to inferior teams and still don't pose much threat with the ball.

 

[arnie_ni]

Said this before and got slaughtered here.

You seen a plan and implementation of that plan. I think given more time he may have progressed us a bit more but its hard to know

 

[b82REZ]

I hated his tenure (from a playing standpoint). The closest I've ever got to not watching our matches. But undoubtedly had us playing his way. We controlled most games and rarely lost the midfield battle. He genuinely nullified our rivals in the big games rather than hitting them on the counter or shutting up shop entirely.

I do wonder what he would he would have done in his third season. I believe it was an interview with Ruud who said they attacking play would have come in his third season.

Despite the fact I hated his football, I loved the man. His press conferences were the best thing to happen to this club since Fergie retired.

 

[passing-wind]

By a mile

 

[ThierryHenry14]

He is the only manager successfully implemented possession based football in man utd, even with kids. I am not sure if he is responsible for player recruitment in Man Utd.

 

[mu4c_20le]

We're the only blip on his CV imo. If we had a proper footballing structure he would have done much better, turned us into a tactical side, and laid the foundations for a younger, modern manager.

 

[tomaldinho1]

million percent yes. Probably the only hands on coach we've had in decades given SAF by the end wasn't. He also was pre transfer committee so he got majorly screwed by our scouting team and Woodward.

All I want from a United coach is for them to say 'I want my team to play like X, Y and Z' and then we see X, Y and Z on the pitch. LVG did that to an almost robotic degree.

It also makes the decision to sack/back so much easier, you can literally see something tangible and decide if you like it. I respect LVG so much more having seen what's followed, if we'd hired a progressive possession coach after him who knows where we'd be now but Mou was just all wrong.

 

[Ayoba]

His recruitment was terrible though and that's what let him down, perhaps in hindsight we could've benefited from a DOF.

Di Maria
Schneiderlin
Bastian
Valdes
Falcao
Damian
Memphis
Rojo
Blind
Herrera
Shaw

Completely gutted the squad and sold decent players like Rafael, Nani, chicharito. He did implement a certain style but in many terms he set us so back with woeful recruitment and getting rid of our decent squad players.

 

[VanDeBank]

His style wasn't "boring" he didn't set out to pass sideways. He just wasn't as good as breaking down parked busses as modern coaches like ETH and Tuchel are. It didn't help that all his signings were shit.

Him and Mourinho were both good coaches, they're not dissimilar.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/h...n-gaal-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

This said it all.

 

[Sanchez7]

Yes, unfortunately he also had the worst team which was partly his own doing given some of his transfers. I remember Blackett, Paddy McNair and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson playing under him.

 

[elnorte]

It is odd how dull his brand was given the excitement he was generating at Ajax in the mid-nineties. Not to sure about the style of his Barca sides as I don't recall watching their matches during his time there.

 

[clarkydaz]

Also Consider he came in his later years to the prem. He was probably shocked and had to learn like pep, klopp and even Ralf is

 

[Bobade]

All I want from a United coach is for them to say 'I want my team to play like X, Y and Z' and then we see X, Y and Z on the pitch. LVG did that to an almost robotic degree.

It's easy to say that now though, because that's something that we haven't seen for a while at the club, whilst getting spanked regularly by lower clubs that do display this.

I do agree in as far as I want to see a defined playstyle, but the style of play then was awful. It was defined though.

 

[thegregster]

Yes. His inability to recruit well cost him just like at Barca.

When he was at Ajax and Bayern we saw what he could do with the right players.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

It's easy to say that now though, because that's something that we haven't seen for a while at the club, whilst getting spanked regularly by lower clubs that do display this.

I do agree in as far as I want to see a defined playstyle, but the style of play then was awful. It was defined though.

It takes time and also the right players to implement a style. Arteta is in his 3rd year and he is still working on it. He is not even close in terms of quality as a coach like LVG.

 

[Lee565]

I didn't think his recruitment was that bad and we didn't lose out terribly on their re-sale value compared to the other managers buys, it was just how he implemented them like buying Rojo who looked good in a back 3 but rarely used that system, same with darmian and we knew di maria can be great in a midfield 3 but he was trying him as a deep lying midfielder or as a wing back and left side winger which didn't suit him.

Martial looked good under him and depay could have potentially came good as well as it isn't easy to adjust to the premier league straight away.

 

[Oranges038]

Squad management and transfers were awful.

Pressers and interviews were quite entertaining.

On the pitch it was some of the most boring football I've ever witnessed.

But, he had a plan and he stuck to it no matter what. So if that's good coaching, then yes. He was the best coach.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It's easy to say that now though, because that's something that we haven't seen for a while at the club, whilst getting spanked regularly by lower clubs that do display this.

I do agree in as far as I want to see a defined playstyle, but the style of play then was awful. It was defined though.

That's my point, I don't have an issue with his sacking but I respect him for being able to do what he said he could do. Mou just set us up to counter, how hard can that be to coach? I genuinely don't know what Ole did for 3 years.

 

[Skills]

million percent yes. Probably the only hands on coach we've had in decades given SAF by the end wasn't. He also was pre transfer committee so he got majorly screwed by our scouting team and Woodward.

All I want from a United coach is for them to say 'I want my team to play like X, Y and Z' and then we see X, Y and Z on the pitch. LVG did that to an almost robotic degree.

It also makes the decision to sack/back so much easier, you can literally see something tangible and decide if you like it. I respect LVG so much more having seen what's followed, if we'd hired a progressive possession coach after him who knows where we'd be now but Mou was just all wrong.

Yeah this is what has made me appreciate him more with hindsight. Mourinho just kept weaving a web of lies to support whatever agenda he had at any given time, and Solskjaer was the master of bullshitting exactly what the fans wanted to hear without any real idea or interest in implementing it on the pitch.

Van Gaal was as you said, almost robotic. You knew what you were getting, and if it was for the club to decide if they liked what they got on the pitch. He wasn't trying to hoodwink the club or the fanbase on some vision or agenda, that he couldn't deliver.

 

[stevoc]

million percent yes. Probably the only hands on coach we've had in decades given SAF by the end wasn't. He also was pre transfer committee so he got majorly screwed by our scouting team and Woodward.

All I want from a United coach is for them to say 'I want my team to play like X, Y and Z' and then we see X, Y and Z on the pitch. LVG did that to an almost robotic degree.

It also makes the decision to sack/back so much easier, you can literally see something tangible and decide if you like it. I respect LVG so much more having seen what's followed, if we'd hired a progressive possession coach after him who knows where we'd be now but Mou was just all wrong.

How so?

 

[Nicolarra90]

Another what's better, shit or piss type of question

 

[SadlerMUFC]

No...thread/

 

[bond19821982]

Him and Ed was a bad combination. If he had a brilliant DoF to support, we would have done so better.

Still liked that team though. He was the first one to bring the concept of "passing out from back " in epl. He partnered Blind with Smalling and made it a success. He implemented high press and we did it with much lesser quality.

Think, with couple of right signings we could have actually done something. Pep does the same thing to be honest but he has better players .

 

[Skills]

Him and Ed was a bad combination. If he had a brilliant DoF to support, we would have done so better.

Still liked that team though. He was the first one to bring the concept of "passing out from back " in epl. He partnered Blind with Smalling and made it a success. He implemented high press and we did it with much lesser quality.

Think, with couple of right signings we could have actually done something. Pep does the same thing to be honest but he has better players .

A bit of a catch 22 with him though. He fell out at all of his previous clubs where he was working under good DOFs. I don't think he ever fell out with anyone at United and seemed to enjoy his time here, but at the same time there was nobody here to check him or challenge him. So in many ways, he had an easier work environment but wasn't as successful because of it.

 

[Ekeke]

Yeah this is what has made me appreciate him more with hindsight. Mourinho just kept weaving a web of lies to support whatever agenda he had at any given time, and Solskjaer was the master of bullshitting exactly what the fans wanted to hear without any real idea or interest in implementing it on the pitch.

Van Gaal was as you said, almost robotic. You knew what you were getting, and if it was for the club to decide if they liked what they got on the pitch. He wasn't trying to hoodwink the club or the fanbase on some vision or agenda, that he couldn't deliver.

We had more control of the ball because we never risked losing it, and had 0% threat in attack because of it. Despite having all of that ball and control, our CBs were the most active they've ever been with some of the highest ball winning in the league. Jones, Rojo and Smalling were all up there statistically doing a heavy load. He kept talking about a vision, although I dont think he used those exact words. And he used Rooney and Mata as central midfielders, Mata was never the same in attack after that tending to play the LVG way ever since and losing his attacking edge.

In terms of enjoying the football he was the worst and several players became worse with his methods

 

[SadlerMUFC]

LVG got rid of RVP, Nani, Chicharito, Kagawa, Welbeck, and Zaha, played Rooney in DM and DiMaria as a striker and then complained that we "don't have a 20 goal scorer". No sh*t. You got rid of one and are playing the other at midfield. Oh, and the guy who can set them both up, you're playing as a striker. Not to mention the other attacking talent he got rid of. And with these 7 attacking players that he got rid of, he brought in Martial and DePay to replace them. Along with a bunch of defensive players. The man was an idiot and his football was awful...

 

[Abraxas]

In terms of imposing a distinctive style of football where you could clearly identify what the structure of the team was and what Louis van Gaal football is supposed to be, he was successful. More so than other managers where we have had similar results but it is difficult to identify a consistent thread.

But what does that mean, really? It's not about aesthetics, it's about decisive results, tangible success. He had some but not enough and he didn't buy well enough to put together a good team. As a manager a huge proportion of your work is in getting the right players which he had a lot of control over and blundered time and time again.

So yes you can say he was a technically good coach in getting players aligned to his ideals, but the theory wasn't actually mated to fulfilling objectives.

 

[Leftback99]

Did the most damage since SAF. But in terms of 'could you see his impact from the training ground on the pitch?', yes. Dire.

 

[AltiUn]

Yeah but it was the worst football by a landslide.