I shall explain as a fan of him -
1) LVG is usually hired by bigger clubs to fast track a club progression in terms of team play & understanding (not titles) alongside a focus on a group of youngsters basically a small slice of something close to his ajax team was able to do.
2)LVG is a manager who gets rid of a lot of players especially ones who struggle to play in a team either for being selfish (Rivaldo), Lack basic technical ability (welbeck), lacks intelligence of basic movement in relation to a team (like Rafael)
3) alters players positions like schweinsteriger alaba abidal Valencia young
4) replaces indivualistic players with players who are more able to play in a team ie xavi iniesta muller Lingard Rashford
5) Focuses on the basics because he is a very out dated manager such as a a team that can pass & position themselves takes a major priority rather than individualistic play (ie herreras demise)
6)the Philosophy simply is another word of him saying a club understanding of its basic ability & its basic formation; a philosophy is basically a teaching or understanding of a subject after all & all he is trying to achieve is a group of players understanding their role within a system. Barcelona 433, Bayern 451 & United I'm pretty sure this is 352.
7) he gets too imposing on the basics that his clubs end up playing a basic brand of football like a kid not allowing to race on his bicycle but has to peddle slowly; this is both done purposely but combines with his inability to utilise the benefits of having certain players in the job doing more individual roles such as Lingard marauding around applying pressure. This tends to be why youngsters particularly have an easy time with him because he is basically holding their hand & giving them the most basics of instruction dependant on the team formation; but usually well experienced players find it much more difficult to deal with him
Ps: I've had this conversation before with too many people & had my fair share of criticism on this subject about how what I was saying is wrong. So I do understand your opinion on it too
I am not an expert on LVG, but IMHO none of the above is accurate:
1. He was lucky with a bunch of exceptional youngsters in Ajax. From then on, he had the cloud of "exceptional" himself, and the confidence (=cockiness). So, big clubs felt "safe" in hiring him.
2. It's easy to blame and "get rid" of players. You can find something wrong with *any* player. If Rivaldo was selfish, CR7 is selfish, too.
3. He did not alter the positions of Valencia and Young. Many of his "alternations" were failures, but you remember the couple of successes. And since you mentioned
Schweinsteiger: why did LVG want this player? Many fans knew that his career was ending, and LVG did not?
4. Myth. He did nothing of the sort for us. Why did he get Di Maria? Di Maria is not "individualistic"?
5. He is outdated, agreed.
6. He uses the word "Philosophy" only because he believes it makes him sound smart and wise. Apart from that, every manager has a "philosophy", actually every human being has a philosophy!
7. Boring football. And he is so full of himself that calls Mourinho boring!
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?