Louis Van Gaal | 2015-16 Performance Thread

Van Gaal: The verdict

  • 1) Sack him now.

  • 2) Sack him at the end of the season.

  • 3) Let him see out his contract and part ways after that.

  • 4) Extend his contract.

  • Undecided (between 1 and 2).

  • Undecided (between 2 and 3).

  • Undecided (between 3 and 4, if things improve before his contract expires, extend).


Results are only viewable after voting.

Nighteyes

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Going to be a long long season if his pre-season meddling is anything to go by.
 

Chaky_Best

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I was excited by his arrival last year only because we had Moyes previously. It’s like going to Burger King when we had only vegetables to eat for 10 months. It’s better on the taste, but not healthier :D

Anyway, I can’t clearly understand his philosophy. Last year was a tough time for us when you see the facts. We started so badly and we invested so much (and not wisely). Normally with ADM, Rooney, Falcao, RVP, he should have the material to finish higher than 4th, but he conviced us that we were not good enough.

But it’s all because of him. The 3-5-2 + his wrong recruitment (Falcao + Rojo) + his switch to diamond + the soporific football played from October to March + the Di Maria mismanagement, the Falcao FLOP, and De Gea saga. We lost too many things (not only points) because of his indecisiveness, his experimentations etc.

And guess what? After fixing the right back position, the Center Midfield position, adding an exciting talent in Depay, he changes his tactics again, he bench our best midfielder, plays an even weaker central defense, plays a keeper who wants to leave and plays Rooney up top (I pass Young on the left and Mata right). So he won points last season in a certain way, but he changes again even if he has the material and the strength in depth.

I’m totally disabused about him, his management. He spent 250M£ in 12 months and we can’t have better than Jones + Blind behind ? Mata as a winger ? and an average Young as our best player ?

I think, and I’m sure that we’re to soft, kind with him because he’s better than Moyes. But when we look clearly everything, it’s not good enough, and we’re going the same way this year. Just let’s hop that we’ll finish top 4 again this season, sack him, and have Ancelotti at United.
 

Mali_Zeus

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I was excited by his arrival last year only because we had Moyes previously. It’s like going to Burger King when we had only vegetables to eat for 10 months. It’s better on the taste, but not healthier :D

Anyway, I can’t clearly understand his philosophy. Last year was a tough time for us when you see the facts. We started so badly and we invested so much (and not wisely). Normally with ADM, Rooney, Falcao, RVP, he should have the material to finish higher than 4th, but he conviced us that we were not good enough.

But it’s all because of him. The 3-5-2 + his wrong recruitment (Falcao + Rojo) + his switch to diamond + the soporific football played from October to March + the Di Maria mismanagement, the Falcao FLOP, and De Gea saga. We lost too many things (not only points) because of his indecisiveness, his experimentations etc.

And guess what? After fixing the right back position, the Center Midfield position, adding an exciting talent in Depay, he changes his tactics again, he bench our best midfielder, plays an even weaker central defense, plays a keeper who wants to leave and plays Rooney up top (I pass Young on the left and Mata right). So he won points last season in a certain way, but he changes again even if he has the material and the strength in depth.

I’m totally disabused about him, his management. He spent 250M£ in 12 months and we can’t have better than Jones + Blind behind ? Mata as a winger ? and an average Young as our best player ?

I think, and I’m sure that we’re to soft, kind with him because he’s better than Moyes. But when we look clearly everything, it’s not good enough, and we’re going the same way this year. Just let’s hop that we’ll finish top 4 again this season, sack him, and have Ancelotti at United.
All this and season hasnt even started.
Bolded part is most extraordinary.

Also - plays a keeper who wants to leave.
He's still our player, best player from last season, of course he'll play him.
 

entropy

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Where's my arc, Paulie?
I can't help but think that He is setting himself up for failure. No proper striker partnership up front. Depending on Rooney to come good/stay fit or relying on second rate Hernandez? It's too big of a risk.
 

Kag

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What he's trying to do this pre-season is stupid and it won't work.

We're going to go through the very same process of last season, whereby he'd stick with something that wasn't working, he'll change it long after it's obvious it isn't working, and we'll drop plenty of points as a result.

Smalling is our best centre half, Blind is not one, Herrera makes the whole side play better and we should be playing with a proper 433 with Depay out wide, in his best position.

It's fecking irritating that the manager can't pick up on these very fecking obvious assessments.
 

Mister_Stubbs

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He reminds me of a crazy scientist who will go out of his way to attempt the possible with the impossible methods.
 

RoadTrip

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Lets just wait to see his starting lineup against Spurs before we all jump the gun.
You know, even if he changes it up to what we want, I'll still be annoyed because you'd like to think that at least 1 of the 4 games should be for how we start the season. Not 4/4 for experimentation.

There is very little chance he changes much and we will all be annoyed.
 

Xaviesta

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I was excited by his arrival last year only because we had Moyes previously. It’s like going to Burger King when we had only vegetables to eat for 10 months. It’s better on the taste, but not healthier :D

Anyway, I can’t clearly understand his philosophy. Last year was a tough time for us when you see the facts. We started so badly and we invested so much (and not wisely). Normally with ADM, Rooney, Falcao, RVP, he should have the material to finish higher than 4th, but he conviced us that we were not good enough.

But it’s all because of him. The 3-5-2 + his wrong recruitment (Falcao + Rojo) + his switch to diamond + the soporific football played from October to March + the Di Maria mismanagement, the Falcao FLOP, and De Gea saga. We lost too many things (not only points) because of his indecisiveness, his experimentations etc.

And guess what? After fixing the right back position, the Center Midfield position, adding an exciting talent in Depay, he changes his tactics again, he bench our best midfielder, plays an even weaker central defense, plays a keeper who wants to leave and plays Rooney up top (I pass Young on the left and Mata right). So he won points last season in a certain way, but he changes again even if he has the material and the strength in depth.

I’m totally disabused about him, his management. He spent 250M£ in 12 months and we can’t have better than Jones + Blind behind ? Mata as a winger ? and an average Young as our best player ?

I think, and I’m sure that we’re to soft, kind with him because he’s better than Moyes. But when we look clearly everything, it’s not good enough, and we’re going the same way this year. Just let’s hop that we’ll finish top 4 again this season, sack him, and have Ancelotti at United.

Already? Plus, I wouldn't describe Ancelotti as an elite manager. Van Gaal ain't perfect having said that. If he missed top 4, or is nowhere near it regarding the title race, then look at sacking him.
 

Nickosaur

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You know, even if he changes it up to what we want, I'll still be annoyed because you'd like to think that at least 1 of the 4 games should be for how we start the season. Not 4/4 for experimentation.

There is very little chance he changes much and we will all be annoyed.
Well firstly it's not up to us. Secondly, RedCafe is divided on most issues within football so that will be tricky.

It's pre-season. First and foremost players need minutes to get fit. I've been a little confused and frustrated by some of LVG's decisions but I don't see why we all need to get so worked up yet.
 

Kaos

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I really don't understand this constant meddling by him.

Before joining United, I always had him as the consistent type who swears by his 4-3-3 and will religiously build teams around it. Now he's experimenting with something new every game it seems.

It is only pre-season so I'll wait to see how he starts the PL season, but I'll start to get a little annoyed and dare I say disillusioned if he turns this season into another experiment.
 

RoadTrip

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Well firstly it's not up to us. Secondly, RedCafe is divided on most issues within football so that will be tricky.

It's pre-season. First and foremost players need minutes to get fit. I've been a little confused and frustrated by some of LVG's decisions but I don't see why we all need to get so worked up yet.
Well I'll be damned. I always thought posting on redcafe meant I get to make the decisions that a Man a utd manager makes.

You'll find on some of the issues this forum is not that divided, and Herreraon the bench and Blind at LCB are two of them.

Pre season is also not just about getting fit. The first three games yes, I take that point. But the last game is about playing your strongest side and building a platform to start your season.

And im not getting worked up. But I am irritated because what is breathtakingly obvious is clearly not to LVG. He is not an idiot, he is a very good manager. But sometimes I just think he does things differently just so he can say he did, and that's annoying. He appears not to have learnt the lessons of last year.
 

Varun

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What he's trying to do this pre-season is stupid and it won't work.

We're going to go through the very same process of last season, whereby he'd stick with something that wasn't working, he'll change it long after it's obvious it isn't working, and we'll drop plenty of points as a result.

Smalling is our best centre half, Blind is not one, Herrera makes the whole side play better and we should be playing with a proper 433 with Depay out wide, in his best position.

It's fecking irritating that the manager can't pick up on these very fecking obvious assessments.
This.

We will end up with Herrera in midfield and Smalling at CB but it will happen after we have dropped points. The blind at CB experiment is a joke, the Herrera one still pardonable.
 

Mali_Zeus

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Blind at CB and not playing Herrera concerns I can get.
But being worked up on formation I cant get.

Herrera at nr. 10 and Mata right can work in 4-2-3-1 as well as in 4-3-3.
 

Señor

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I don't expect to win anything this year. Another transition season for us. Piss poor considering what we've spent and the players at our disposal. As has been said earlier, if he makes the same mistakes as last season, we'll fall behind again by conceding points at the start of the season. We'll see how well he does.
 

Litch

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For someone who likes attacking football, LVG isn't portraying that. He's spending money but we still have what could be millions of pounds more to spend cause he's not addressed the problems. He's let forwards go but not replaced them and it's sooooo obvious we need At least 1 if not 2 CB's. I'm sorry and I know it's an establish team but we looked a million miles off PSG last night...
 

BarstoolProphet

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I haven't lost my faith in LvG but I can honestly say that most of the feelgood factor surrounding him and the club after his end of season speech has pretty much gone. Not entirely his fault but he sure does make some weird decisions. To summarize:

+:

- Great midfield signings on paper
- Exciting signing in Memphis
- Darmian looks like a good signing
- Shaw has really impressed during pre-season
- Selling Nani and RvP
- Adnan impressed during his cameo as a striker vs. Barcelona
- Pereira looking good
- Mr. Pre-Season, Jesse Lingard, turns up again (to a lesser extent this time but still great to see)


-:

- His handling of Valdés
- Leaving out Rafael completely
- AdM gone AWOL (not LvG's fault)
- Rooney being below-par for pretty much the entire pre-season
- Still no signing of an attacker that can replace Rooney
- DdG's situation still not sorted
- His weird tactical choices (Memphis as a #10, Blind at CB,
- Promising Blind a CB spot against Spurs
- Herrera again looking like he will be placed on the bench
- No obvious replacements for an over-the-hill Rooney
- Last but not least, the boring football continues



Hopefully this pre-season will work as a wake-up call when the season starts. Last year we looked like world-beaters and ended up playing badly the first months. This pre-season we look like a good, but not great team with some obvious flaws.
 

SqueakyWeasel

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Taking the next corner instead of Jones!
Still think he feels a need to overthink things too much, giving away your best squad is only dangerous if you play the same plays every game.

Maybe Giggs is being too passive and not telling it like it is, perhaps because he feels he's there purely to learn from LvG.

I personally think we need more of a tactical no.2 like Muelensteen but not too sure that LvG's ego would be able to handle that!
 

Xaviesta

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Still think he feels a need to overthink things too much.

Maybe Giggs is being too passive and not telling it like it is, perhaps he feels he;s there purely to learn.

Think we need a tactician like Muelensteen but don't think LvG ego would be able to handle that!
If that's the case, what's the point in him being there?
 

saivet

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What did he do last night? Only seen the result and not managed to watch any of the pre season games.
 

Jed I. Knight

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Pre-season means feck all, but if we line up against Spurs with Blind at CB and Herrera on the bench in favour of Young wide and Depay centrally, I expect this season to go exactly like last.

The only hope I have then, is that the amount of matches now that we (hopefully) have the CL will mean that he -has- to discover his best team.
 

MDFC Manager

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So he's confirmed that Blind will start at LCB. This is absolutely baffling and I can't get my head around it. And this is coming from a steadfast LvG supporter. This experiment is extremely likely to cost us.

Absence of Herrera, I can deal with. It's not like Fellaini is being preferred over Herrera (like last season).
 

Question234

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Pre-season means feck all, but if we line up against Spurs with Blind at CB and Herrera on the bench in favour of Young wide and Depay centrally, I expect this season to go exactly like last.

The only hope I have then, is that the amount of matches now that we (hopefully) have the CL will mean that he -has- to discover his best team.
needs to have his best 11 by october latest if he is serious about competing this year.
 

MDFC Manager

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Pre-season means feck all, but if we line up against Spurs with Blind at CB and Herrera on the bench in favour of Young wide and Depay centrally, I expect this season to go exactly like last.

The only hope I have then, is that the amount of matches now that we (hopefully) have the CL will mean that he -has- to discover his best team.
He's confirmed that Blind will be the LCB, and he's yet to decide who the RCB will be. Also said Shaw and Darmian will be the full backs
 

Escobar

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For me, only the Spurs game counts in every aspect. Pre-season is all about trying things out. Nevertheless, I can see him continuing with ideas that just dont work and noone else understands
 

Steven Seagull

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Not going to get on his back yet, but it's alarming how many times we've seen the team sheets before a game and the general consensus, even on the fecking Internet is "that's not going to work." After 20 minutes it becomes painfully obvious that we're being murdered in this area of the pitch and we're left scrambling around to try and fix it. (Usually by making an even more absurd substitution)
 

Catt

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I'm not getting worked up just yet but people won't be as patient this season thats for sure. VG is here for two more seasons probably so why is he then tinkering so much with the team? It's not science but playing a system that suits your team and players in their best positions seems to work more often than not.
 

Leg-End

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Pre-season is the time to tinker and try stuff, results mean nothing and if you get through with few injuries then its served its purpose.

Blind at CB won't be good enough in a million years though.
 

VP

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Most of last season, I had this nagging feeling that the man's a bit of a charlatan. And whatever success he's had has almost been despite his presence rather than because of it. It disappeared for a while after we outplayed City, Liverpool and Chelsea - but it's creeping back again.
 

Godfather

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He seems to have a fable for playing players out of position. It's getting ridiculous now. Let Memphis play on the left, Herrera in the #10 and put Blind on the freaking bench.
 

Question234

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Pre-season is the time to tinker and try stuff, results mean nothing and if you get through with few injuries then its served its purpose.

Blind at CB won't be good enough in a million years though.
and lvg said he's seriously contemplating letting blind start for spurs. So we have a problem.

I just want to see good football, he boasts that he has an attacking philosophy but I'm still not convinced.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Wasn't convinced by him last season and so far he has done little to change my mind on that. Looks like he hasn't learned at all from last years mistakes, even if he has bought well so far. By selling Di Maria it certainly doesn't help in the creativity department that we suffer from already.

Question marks hang over a number of things and it is a major concern:

- The GK situation, it needs sorted ASAP as De Gea clearly isn't motivated and that will hamper us during the season
- The CB situation. We DESPERATELY need a good solid CB. Persevering with Jones \ Smalling \ Rojo \ Evans \ Blind will not win the league, mark my words
- Herrera. It's beyond me that he still doesn't regard him as one of the first names on the team sheet.
- Lack of creativity. We struggle to break teams down and that looks set to continue, Selling Di Maria doesn't help.
- Rooney \ Striker position. Lack of options and having Rooney (arguably past his peak) as the main striker, could be a recipe for disaster.