LvG's substitutions

Lawman

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His game management is dreadful and he consistently makes weird decisions the sooner we are rid the better. I'd rather have Moyes at this stage!
 

FromTheBench

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What was Fosu Mensah coming on for Darmian all about ? Why not a attacking change and if a RB then why not Varela ?

Bizarre thing was that he was staying back instead of charging forwards either.
 

FromTheBench

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His game management is dreadful and he consistently makes weird decisions the sooner we are rid the better. I'd rather have Moyes at this stage!
I am almost certain his subs are mostly pre decided.

He changes a bit if forced but very stubborn otherwise.
 

Giant Midget

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I am almost certain his subs are mostly pre decided.

He changes a bit if forced but very stubborn otherwise.
Exactly:

  1. Herrera off after 60 because him and Schneiderlin are going to be the partnership in the Europa. He didn't want them both to play 90 mins.
  2. TFM for Darmian because the latter has just come back from injury and couldn't play the whole 90.
  3. Depay for Rashford because he's a young kid who's played 90 mins 3 times in the space of a week.
Literally zero effort to actually change the game going on the pitch in front of him.
 

Sultan

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Rashford should have come off for Schneiderlin immediately. Mensah substitution was weird as was taking off Herrera when we needed a goal.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

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To be fair, everyone that got taken off today was knackered, so I understand that. Persobally, I would have liked to see Fellaini, though.

West Brom pressed us high after they scored, therefore, at times we needed that outlet - someone who we could punt the ball up top to and hold it up, thus progressing up the pitch.

As it was, it didnt happen and we looked pretty void of ideas at the end.
 

NinjaZombie

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I am almost certain his subs are mostly pre decided.

He changes a bit if forced but very stubborn otherwise.
I think this has been noted a few times before. It's like he's playing Classic mode on FM and he's using the game plans feature. That Mensah sub was weird as feck.
 

PieCrust

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Gotta love it. Chasing the game a goal down and at 10 men, hey, let's bring a holding midfielder, take off a more creative player, and then for shits, let's change the right back in the 81st minute for a kid that will have zero effect on the game. Brilliant.
 

marlowe78

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I think his subs have actually cost us top 4, despite everything else we've done wrong. Seriously.
 

caisenma

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Good thing he left Pereira and Januzaj at home. Would be too risky to have them come on... It's that sort of mentality that caused him to sub a defender for another defender with ten minutes to go. Great stuff.
 

Natener

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LVG making a change when we are in a good/decent run of play has been a common theme. He has a knack for disrupting our own momentum.
 

jojojo

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I was watching the match with someone. I saw the Herrera substitution and actually said, "maybe he wants to go 333 with Carrick dropping back". I can't believe I tried to rationalise it. I'm losing it.

Anyway. A very LvG sort of substitution. Herrera not having a great game but doing well enough to mean the ball is staying deep in the WBA half for long periods. So we make a substitution to invite them to move back upfield - perhaps he was hoping we'd do better by counter attacking.

FFS. Now I'm trying to rationalise it again. I quit. So should he.
 

Rob Bowman

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Just curious what you all think are the top 5 worst choices LVG has made for subs.

My memory is shite but Powell for Mata is followed by Scheiderlin for Herrera seem up there in don't understand and hurt us as well. Plenty of meaningless subs like TFM for Darmian yesterday but I mean the ones that actually made no sense and made us worse in the game.

What other shockers am I missing?
 

settembrini

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There are so many. He's absolutely awful at subs and it's been clear since his first few weeks. I remember watching us at home to Swansea and Herrera was playing very well, Van Gaal took him off and we started playing like garbage and went on to lose. Then a few games later we were at Leicester and Di Maria was having an outstanding game and he subbed him off (to play Mata as a CM!) and we promptly got ripped apart, conceded twice and had a man sent off inside 15 minutes.

It's blatantly obvious that he has his subs in mind before the game starts which is why they are always so baffling from a performance and tactical perspective.
 

LLMU

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he could have started Varela and get Darmian in for the last 20 minutes if he wants to ease players back from injuries. Varela must be asking where he did wrong in the last few games to be drop.
 

clarkydaz

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It's blatantly obvious that he has his subs in mind before the game starts which is why they are always so baffling from a performance and tactical perspective.
this is what grinds my gears. its like he predicts what he is going to do beforehand like the actual game in realtime is irrelevant
 

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What was Fosu Mensah coming on for Darmian all about ? Why not a attacking change and if a RB then why not Varela ?

Bizarre thing was that he was staying back instead of charging forwards either.
You think he's going to pass up that golden opportunity to substitute a full-back?
 

MrPooni

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Carrick for Rashford, 1-0 down at Anfield with 45 minutes to play is a new low...
 

El Zoido

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Put your 18 year old centre forward on the right wing, sub him at halftime when he struggles to affect the game. Just LVG things.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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Sub is fine. Going to a back 3 is weird, but the sub is fine. We had no control in this game and needed some, because a Fellani/Morgan midfield two is bonkers.
 

NinjaZombie

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What the hell has Memphis done to prove he's the man to bring on when we need a goal? Especially when we have to move Martial central and sub Rashford out.
 

Scarecrow

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What the hell has Memphis done to prove he's the man to bring on when we need a goal? Especially when we have to move Martial central and sub Rashford out.
Who do we have on the bench that has done something "to prove he's a man to bring on when we need a goal"?
 

Nighteyes

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Who do we have on the bench that has done something "to prove he's a man to bring on when we need a goal"?
That's no reason to bring on someone who's been utter garbage for the entire season to the extent he's a liability going forward.

At least try something new ffs
 

FromTheBench

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He was gonna bring on Januzaj for Carrick and we scored.

He bottled that attacking sub then.
 

NinjaZombie

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Who do we have on the bench that has done something "to prove he's a man to bring on when we need a goal"?
Beats me, mate. That's on Van Gaal, as well. I'd have been happy having Welbeck, Nani or Hernandez coming off the bench for us. Players who have done the job for us before. (Sorry Louis, I'm living in the past here.)

Memphis is a busted flush this season. He can still go off on holiday in the summer, get a good preseason in and have an improved second season for us, but he's not going to be changing games often for us this season.
 

sugar_kane

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Has a very strange habit of only subbing Fellaini if he's having a decent game.
 

TheReligion

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Why do we have to wait for the other team to react before we do?

Subs were 5-10 minutes too late for me. It was obvious we werent creating yet again however we waiting until Payet scored then gave it another 5 plus minutes before acting. Really poor.
 

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How has this thread not being bumped?

He finally went there... He finally substituted BOTH fullbacks in an important game of football.

He'll be wanking himself silly over that tactical masterstroke tonight... The clown
 

RDCR07

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Probably the only sub he ever got right in his entire managerial career is bringing on Krul during the WC. Thats about it.
 

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Probably the only sub he ever got right in his entire managerial career is bringing on Krul during the WC. Thats about it.
And even then, you could reasonably argue that that substitution came back to bite them for the shoot out that did knock them out...
 

manutddjw

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I recorded the game because I was at work and missed out on the team news and couldn't check without spoiling the game. When I watched it when I got home, I saw the shaggy hair on the touch line but didn't notice the ridiculous facial/neck hair and thought maybe this was some attacking youth player I'm not aware of. When I saw 36 on the board I was livid. LvG is a moron.
 

Taxx

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The reason he subbed Rojo for Darmian was that Rojo's match fitness is not optimal. He was sweating like a pig and looked tired just 20 minutes in. I'm guessing that is why. Hence, he would blame injuries if he were to be questioned about making such a bad sub.
 

spwd

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Has he actually EVER made good subs because I can't remember it, he seems to do the exact opposite of what should be done!
 

Fitchett

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Not good subs again I agree. But..... Varela had a mare in the first half and was deservedly hooked at half time for Valencia, who I thought did well in his comeback match. Rojo has had a long absence and looked knackered after an hour, so bringing him off after 70 minutes made sense. But I'd have brought Depay on, seeing as we needed to get 3 goals at least. Schweinsteiger was a straight replacement for a tiring Carrick. My main gripe tonight was not bringing on an additional attacker, Depay, when we were chasing the game.
 

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The reason he subbed Rojo for Darmian was that Rojo's match fitness is not optimal. He was sweating like a pig and looked tired just 20 minutes in. I'm guessing that is why. Hence, he would blame injuries if he were to be questioned about making such a bad sub.
At which point he could be adventurous... Maybe move Lingard to full back... Or Blind and move Carrick back... Or just anything with a bit of adventure.

Feck knows why Rojo would be that tired though... Lost count of amount of times he jogged tonight when sprinting would have been the preferred option... Particular when they were countering.
 

JB7

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Absolutely astonishing substitutions and bench tonight considering we were always going to be chasing the game.
 

PlayerOne

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His in game management is horrible and has been since he got here, he's just awful.