Moyes attempted to. He was terrible at it, and everything else, but he attempted to attack.
Who played the best attacking football - Moyes, LVG or Mourinho?
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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?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Moyes' stint here was like Sam Allardyce taking over Barcelona
Van Gaals time was where the philosophy was to only focus on keeping possession. Scoring goals and creating chances were not considered important as long as possession was kept.
Jose has essentially saved the club from collapse and even though he's a check-book manager who's tactics are probably more suited to slightly smaller clubs such as Atletico or Inter - he's already instilled a winning mentality at the club and will leave 11 warriors with the right attitude for next guy to work with.
Van Gaals time was where the philosophy was to only focus on keeping possession. Scoring goals and creating chances were not considered important as long as possession was kept.
Jose has essentially saved the club from collapse and even though he's a check-book manager who's tactics are probably more suited to slightly smaller clubs such as Atletico or Inter - he's already instilled a winning mentality at the club and will leave 11 warriors with the right attitude for next guy to work with.
I wouldn't go that far about Mourinho, one thing I do wonder about is whether or not we have any leader/warrior types in our team outside of DDG, Valencia and perhaps a few midfielders which I don't see so much. I see more people flopping arms a la early Ronaldo and otherwise looking with outstretched arms at referees than I do players psyching each other up and looking determined/angry. I like an angry team!
Matic, lukaku, Bailly, Sanchez - They will all be important and in a first XI of a proper Jose team going forward. The likes of M-Savic and whoever we get in the summer will add more Jose type players.I wouldn't go that far about Mourinho, one thing I do wonder about is whether or not we have any leader/warrior types in our team outside of DDG, Valencia and perhaps a few midfielders which I don't see so much. I see more people flopping arms a la early Ronaldo and otherwise looking with outstretched arms at referees than I do players psyching each other up and looking determined/angry. I like an angry team!
Jose, but it's been close to Moyes in this second half of the season.
The attitude is what looks like part of the problem
This, this, and this. Exactly sums up my feelings.
In the last game couple of games perhaps when the squad players got a run and where the matches are no longer significant. We still look disjointed as Jose is still trying to mold a team in his image but still hasn't got enough of the players he likes. M-Savic instead of Fellaini and Herrera will be a huge upgrade. Jerome Boateng instead of Smalling another upgrade. So I just get the feeling next season we'll start to be feared in Europe again and we'll look far more balancedThe attitude is what looks like part of the problem
Moyes had the toughest job, plus he was in way over his worried eyebrows. Nothing else to comment on there.
Van Gaal had a difficult job, cleared out a lot of players not up to scratch but failed to get rid of Rooney while not managing to recruit enough good players. Managed some good attacking football but at a ratio of like 1 in 15 games. Probably deserved of more time if it wasn't for his age. Better than Moyes.
Mourinho was probably told to keep some of that foundation with possession-based football but he doesn't really get it, so it gets as boring as Van Gaal when we play that way, slow and afraid of making mistakes. It's like we defend with possession and forget how to attack in the process. However, in the few games where he has set his team up to be more direct, we have seen some pretty good attacking football i would say. The best of the 3 managers, much thanks to his decent return of good players in the transfer-market.
The thing for me is, i think Mourinho is our best shot of getting more trophies, thinking ahead, and with both City and Liverpool going strong at the moment I have to admit i'm afraid to let this guy go just because i get a bit bored watching some of the games we play. I'll rather that and win ahead of City and Pool, than look at them go while we naively search for the perfect nostalgia attacking manager
Van Gaal had a difficult job, cleared out a lot of players not up to scratch but failed to get rid of Rooney while not managing to recruit enough good players. Managed some good attacking football but at a ratio of like 1 in 15 games. Probably deserved of more time if it wasn't for his age. Better than Moyes.
Mourinho was probably told to keep some of that foundation with possession-based football but he doesn't really get it, so it gets as boring as Van Gaal when we play that way, slow and afraid of making mistakes. It's like we defend with possession and forget how to attack in the process. However, in the few games where he has set his team up to be more direct, we have seen some pretty good attacking football i would say. The best of the 3 managers, much thanks to his decent return of good players in the transfer-market.
The thing for me is, i think Mourinho is our best shot of getting more trophies, thinking ahead, and with both City and Liverpool going strong at the moment I have to admit i'm afraid to let this guy go just because i get a bit bored watching some of the games we play. I'll rather that and win ahead of City and Pool, than look at them go while we naively search for the perfect nostalgia attacking manager
In terms of the best performances from all three?
LVG (when it worked) was great.
LVG (when it worked) was great.
Mourinho. Definitely not a great free flowing attack but anyone who thinks LVG or Moyes played better attacking football should be forced to watch their 3 season again match by match!
Mourinho easily.
We were great at the start of the season, and we've scored plenty of goals compared to LVG's seasons.
Yes we got a lot of 0-0 but most games had shots at least. I remember LVG got to a point where we had to cheer shots because even that was a rarity.
Moyes watched the team play some attacking football too but we probably could've played better with that team without a manager.
We were great at the start of the season, and we've scored plenty of goals compared to LVG's seasons.
Yes we got a lot of 0-0 but most games had shots at least. I remember LVG got to a point where we had to cheer shots because even that was a rarity.
Moyes watched the team play some attacking football too but we probably could've played better with that team without a manager.
Have we had a lot of 0-0s? I posted stats the other day but we've scored 2 or more on more occasions than some of our very best seasons.
The issue is beyond the initial start to the season we haven't hit many teams for 4 or 5. Even one massive score makes a big difference to perceptions
I agree with you, and will probably be call deluded. His philosophy very much relies on "the right players in the right positions" as you say. I liked how he knew exactly what he wanted out of a player in each position. This could stifle creativity, but he also needed a couple of highly creative, attacking players who could open up the defenses, which we largely lacked. All his players needed to be technical too, but that was near impossible with our squad. His defensive record was quite impressive though. At least that part of his philosophy was figured out.
LVG was also very much a manager who largely expected other teams to change their tactics to play against his teams, much like Guardiola teams.; Mourinho is the complete opposite. I prefer the former with some flexibility. LVG was proactive, Mourinho is far too reactive. For a club like ours the reactive approach is embarrassing.
I think LVG needed years to properly implement his philosphy with a quite a few transfer windows, and we all ran out of patience - me included. In the long run I do believe we would have been better off, but the short-term was too much to take. Going from LVG to Guardiola would have worked very nicely.
LVG killed himself from the start with his transfer policies, too many changes too soon, stripped the squad bare, should have kept a few experienced players around to help with the transition. It was an approach for the future if it had worked but he did not protect himself in the present.
That pre-season after the WC Utd looked great, fluid, tons of interplay and bodies getting forward. Then he brought in Falcao, tried to combine 3 past their best strikers in an attacking unit, dumped/ostracized all the players with a bit of a pace and mobility, made us entirely reliant on Di Maria settling and the team were a pedestrian bore. Mou would never make as great a hash in the transfer dealings as LVG did.
That pre-season after the WC Utd looked great, fluid, tons of interplay and bodies getting forward. Then he brought in Falcao, tried to combine 3 past their best strikers in an attacking unit, dumped/ostracized all the players with a bit of a pace and mobility, made us entirely reliant on Di Maria settling and the team were a pedestrian bore. Mou would never make as great a hash in the transfer dealings as LVG did.
LVG's transfer record was an absolute shambles and a disaster for the club. I shudder at the thought of granting him "quite a few more" opportunities to feck us up even more.
Van Gaal played amazing football that changed European football.... at Ajax.
Obviously Mourinho at United.
Obviously Mourinho at United.
I mean it's not exactly riveting stuff right now but obviously Mourinho with United.. Last season I'd say we were better going forward then this season though for the most part. Just more clinical this year when last year we would have countless games of awful finishing.
Van Gaal's first season was decent going forward. Nothing amazing, but we had some good attacking performances. Helped having Rooney still pretty decent for much of the season, Van Persie usable now and then, Di Maria the first half of the season while he wanted to play for us, etc...
His second season was a travesty going forward. The tactic was keep possession until Martial receives the ball, then try to create something.
Moyes was trash.
Van Gaal's first season was decent going forward. Nothing amazing, but we had some good attacking performances. Helped having Rooney still pretty decent for much of the season, Van Persie usable now and then, Di Maria the first half of the season while he wanted to play for us, etc...
His second season was a travesty going forward. The tactic was keep possession until Martial receives the ball, then try to create something.
Moyes was trash.
None.
We've seen glimpses of what attacking football should be under all three manager but Jose has had the best personal to work with of the three, so his stats will be the best. If you look at the football it has been really poor under all 3, after Jose's first season it looked like we had something to work with and kick on this season. Up until the Liverpool game we were all looking forward to competing for the title, since then it has all gone down hill and now our football is no better that LvG's dire football in his second season before he got sacked.
We've seen glimpses of what attacking football should be under all three manager but Jose has had the best personal to work with of the three, so his stats will be the best. If you look at the football it has been really poor under all 3, after Jose's first season it looked like we had something to work with and kick on this season. Up until the Liverpool game we were all looking forward to competing for the title, since then it has all gone down hill and now our football is no better that LvG's dire football in his second season before he got sacked.
[x] Eboue
Jose had somehat of a similar spell during Chelsea, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and ManCity
LVG for all his pragmatism had more balls in the big games. Under him we beat City 4-2 and 0-1, Arsenal 3-2 and 1-2, Liverpool 3-0, 1-2 and 0-1, Spurs 3-0, Everton 0-3. All the games we scored 3 or more in were very impressive from an attacking point of view.
Moyes, we set up well against Munich
Obviously Mourinho by default for the other two being so bad but the we've not had a well functioning right wing under any them.
Moyes inherited the best attacking line up and only added Fellaini due to his dithering in the transfer market, so you could say that season was a fading team of Fergies, although it was still better than anything LVG produced. LVG style was very possession based backwards/sidewards repeat and not progressive enough for Man Utd. Our final few months of this season was good stuff, until we parked the bus at Liverpool and refused to have a go and after that we lost all momentum, other than the odd game, since then our football has been pretty bad to watch. I am firmly in the Mourinho's not the right fit for MUFC, you cant spend nearly £200m and getaway with the lack of inventiveness in our attacking style & tempo. So I would say the Moyes season but not down to Moyes.
Sorry meant to say first few months of this season and not final
Bring back Moyes. Bring back crosses. Bring back hands in pockets on the touchline.
I guess you don't remember these games then ? Instead of just listing results, I think you should rewatch these matches if you want to talk about having "more balls". Good luck!
I remember those games and I still have them recorded. You shouldn't assume im just 'listing results'. We showed a bit more attacking freedom in those games than we have in the big games under Mourinho save for the first 20 or so minutes of the 1-3 Arsenal win. Liverpool came hard after we went 2-0 up but we put them to the sword on our path to those goals
Mourinho, not even a contest.
We pretty much parked the bus when we defeated Arsenal 2-1, Liverpool 3-0 and 1-0. Also the 1-0 win against City was a very dull and pathetic game. Good that you have them recorded so go and watch them again then. Won't take time!
I guess that's why I specifically mentioned the games in which we scored 3 or more
We played more entertaining football under LVG. The football under Mourinho is the dullest I've ever seen. We're the dullest side in the Premier League.
There's no great answer to this thread? It's like asking "of the three STDs you got on holiday, which itched the least?"
Then why are you listing all the results as a whole ? It doesn't make sense.
The only good big games showing under LVG were Juanfield, 4-2 derby and Arsenal 3-2. Spurs weren't even considered a big name at this 2014/2015 season. They weren't close at finishing top 4 at all and I don't know why you mentioned Everton in the contest.
The 1-0 derby, Arsenal 2-1, Liverpool 3-0 and 1-0 were all pretty terrible games and can't be described by anything bar dull/parking bus and not even a good one as De Gea was bailing us out. We also lost to Arsenal, Spurs and Everton all 3-0 in his 2 years if you want to include the last 2 teams btw.
Really, his record against top teams is overrated.
We may have been poor under LVG but we never took the underdog route or the small time mentality into games and park the bus like Mourinho does. LVG in the past would've been a good manager for United. But his methods became outdated over time. However Mourinho has never and will never be the man to lead Manchester United. He is not the man for clubs with history and traditions like ours, Ajax, Barcelona and Real Madrid etc. Real Madrid realised this quickly and got him out. He suits teams like Atletico Madrid and Chelsea etc.
Total selective memory. When we scored under LVG it was often a miracle.
Didn’t we go on some mental run of not scoring in the first half of games at home for half the season?
LvG for about 2.5 games at the start of his run
Don't be silly. I mentioned top 6 sides. Spurs finished above Liverpool that season. I mentioned Everton because even though we have a great record against them in general they have always been a tough nut to crack at Goodison park and in recent seasons before our 0-3 win they beat us quite a few times. You wont be swayed because you've made your mind up about LVG anyway despite him getting better results against the top teams and playing more attacking football against them in the bigger wins. No point debating it. BTW the 1-2 win against Liverpool was a very good attacking showing. We should've beat them by more and the score flattered them. Thats when Mata scored his wonder goal against them.
People have short memories. I feel like I fecking aged 10 years during those 3 seasons.
Mourinho by a mile, anyone thinking otherwise should get a medical check.
Mourinho by a mile, anyone thinking otherwise should get a medical check.