It is far from the narrative that Louis van Gaal seeks: criticism from supporters, pundits and ex-Manchester United players about his team’s style as well as its substance. After all, the Dutchman has guided United to just one defeat in the past 18 matches – a record that, had it not included eight draws, might have United challenging for the Premier League title. As is it, United remains locked in a five-way battle for European football next season – and Van Gaal is increasingly on the defensive.
Respite, albeit brief, comes in the FA Cup, with United facing a lower division club for the third successive round. Van Gaal’s side struggled to beat Yeovil Town and Cambridge United in earlier rounds, with Preston North End no more likely to provide a walkover this time around. Supporters expect victory on Monday night, of course, but whether the Dutchman is able to bring a degree of cohesion to an attacking unit that has been largely sterile during that 18-match run remains a key question.
The accusation that Van Gaal has developed a ‘long ball game’ came at West Ham United, where Sam Allardyce drew a bizarre and unnecessary reaction from the Dutchman in the wake of United’s last-gasp draw in east London last weekend. That performance also brought a stinging rebuke from former United midfielder Paul Scholes.
“United’s history was built on attacking football, which does not always mean that the team kept clean sheets or did not concede chances,” said the player who appeared on 718 occasions for United. “Why do you think United have had some of the best goalkeepers in the world over the years? They needed them because the team committed so many players forward. At the moment I’m struggling to watch Van Gaal’s team with any great enjoyment.”
It was perhaps worse at home to Burnley in midweek, where United won but the visitors deserved so much more for a vibrant attacking performance that was in stark contrast to United’s recent approach. Then, amid the sterility, there is anything but tactical cohesion. Eight months into the job, Van Gaal is seemingly far from finding the balance that his philosophy demands.
“I have played five or six systems and I am looking still for the balance,” admitted the former Barcelona manager this week, who has switched to a 4-4-2 diamond in recent weeks.
“This system is more attractive than normally and I can play with more attacking players. In spite of the fact that we are looking for the balance, our results are not bad and our defensive organisation is not bad. So, I cannot say that I am very disappointed about that.”
Preston offers Van Gaal’s men the chance to progress in the only tournament United stands a realistic chance of claiming. Perhaps equally important, in the current atmosphere, is for the Dutchman’s side to put on a real show. Not that Van Gaal is tempted to talk up the chances of an open, attacking game.
“It’s always the same because you know the world is for the underdog and we have to play away under the same circumstances as at Cambridge or Yeovil,” said Van Gaal.
“You know that they play more or less with two rows of four and a striker who is dropping in, as did Cambridge and Yeovil and also for example Queens Park Rangers and Burnley. It is always difficult to play against a defending team.
On the pitch Van Gaal is unlikely to risk Phil Jones, who departed after only a few minutes against Burnley. Daley Blind could be involved, but Michael Carrick has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation is will not be available. If Blind does not feature hen Wayne Rooney could continue in a more defensive role. The Scouser finished United’s victory over Burnley sitting in front of the back four.
Van Gaal reserved praise for second-half substitute Ander Herrera, who again brought balance and energy to United’s midfield, although there is no guarantee that the Basque will feature. United’s manager has normally prefer Rooney, Juan Mata and, recently, Adnan Januzaj in deeper roles this season.
Meanwhile, Preston manager Simon Grayson, is without cup-tied Daniel Johnson while goalkeeper Sam Johnstone cannot play against his parent club. Thorsten Stuckmann takes over in goal, with Calum Woods and Callum Robinson also in the match-day squad. However, former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford, who scored in the FA Cup at Old Trafford in 2010, is out injured.
Preston has enjoyed a positive season under Grayson, with the Lilywhites chasing promotion to the Championship. With 16 games remaining Grayson’s side is within four points of automatic promotion after missing out in last season’s play-offs.
“We’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that is what we’ll do,” said Grayson of United’s visit on Monday night.
“We’ll go and enjoy playing against some of the best players in the world – fantastic atmosphere, massive profile for the football club and a tie we’re looking forward to and should enjoy. We’ll do ourselves justice, but what we’ve done is focus on the last two league games and getting results and performances.”
That freedom seemingly liberated both Cambridge and Yeovil in previous rounds. Or, in contrast, inhibited United’s performance. It took the late entry of Angel Di Maria at Yeovil to secure victory, while Cambridge enjoyed a huge payday in embarrassing United at the Abbey Stadium to earn a replay. For Van Gaal it remains a difficult task no matter how many places between the sides on Monday.
“You know the world is against you, the environment is against you because everyone is with the underdog,” said Van Gaal. “It is difficult to accept but it’s like that. But the chance that you can survive is higher because you are playing against lower qualities. But you have to beat the team with better motivation and in the atmosphere where everyone is against you.”
Fail at Preston and Van Gaal may find more of his own on the turn – not just the former players. It is the thin line the Dutchman treads this season.
Teams
Preston (3-5-2): Stuckmann; Clarke, Huntington, Wright; Wiseman, Welsh, Kilkenny, Laird, Gallagher; Davies, Garner.
United (4-1-3-2): Valdes; McNair, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Blind; Herrera, Rooney, Di Maria; Wilson, Falcao
Subs from
Preston: Humphrey, Buchanan, Reid, King, Ebanks-Blake, Woods, Robinson
United: De Gea, Evans, James, Blackett, Valencia, Januzaj, Young, Fellaini, Pereira, Van Persie
Head-to-head
Preston 22 – Draw 22 – United 31
Officials
Referee: Philip Dowd
Assistant Referees: Michael Mullarkey & David Bryan
Fourth Official: David Webb
Prediction
Preston 1-3 United
£1 bet club
1-3 @ 12/1
Running total: £(-)8.50
0-3 #GGMU
Move Rooney forward instead of Wilson and put Mata in his place ,,,,, then you have a footballing team.
The FA Cup’s history is littered with wonderful giant-killing performances and long may it continue (except of course against United). Certainly away to Preston is a potential ‘banana skin’ but I do wish van Gaal would stop bleating about everything being against his team when they are away in the FA Cup to a lower league team. He’s creating obstacles from his own imagination. By all means, work against complacency but show some courage and positivity as the manager of a club which has won the most FA Cups.
Despite van Gaal’s tinkering with team selection, formation and tactics (philosophy?) there has been one underlying constant for the duration of the season. That is, his inability to get any of United’s classy attacking players to perform at their best. Not one attacking player is having a good season. He focuses on making United hard to beat at the expense of scoring goals. Van Gaal has not set up United to play pacey, creative attacking football. They are not playing to their strengths and goals have been hard to come by. As Scholesy has said, this not the United way.
I reckon Van Gaal has a recurring nightmare which involves the 5-3 defeat at Leicester. Instead of seeing it as a crazy one-off set of circumstances, never to be repeated in a month of Sundays, he is frightened that it could be repeated at any time, against any team. He lives in such a fear and this has affected his approach to games. Another sign that the plot is slipping from his grasp was his embarrassing Benitez-like rant against Allardyce’s ‘long ball’ comments.
In what is a far from vintage Premier League season, United could have been challenging Chelsea for the title if van Gaal had made the choice to adopt the United philosophy rather than trying to impose a more negative one (or several?) of his own.
Hey Ed…..am wondering about your outcome of the 1 quid club as you predicted the 1-1 correct………..
Yeah, won £6.50 on that one. So only the £8.50 down for the season. I should stop making stupid bets like ‘Wilson to score a hat-trick @ 35/1’. Next season I’ll rope everyone in. At the moment its a club of one!
made the same bet and we won both……season proved that a draw away and a win at home is the safest option 😉
Listeners to the Guardian’s Football Weekly will have heard Philippe Auclair call van Gaal a fraud on Monday. That if you dare to look beyond the bluster, look past the track record, you won’t be able to avoid the uncomfortable truth of the Dutchman’s reign at Old Trafford: that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
The rest of the press pack haven’t called it so far, and the supporters would rather not face it, but how the evidence mounts. Too much to detail here, but the tedious continued inclusion of van Persie AND Falcao AND Rooney, and exclusion of Herrera, is Exhibit A. My own theory on which: in his most recent utterance – “Maybe [Rooney] is the best striker” – van Gaal imagines we are incapable of recalling what he was spouting back in September. “I was not so satisfied with Rooney as a striker..I think [Falcao] can do it better.”
If van Gaal has changed his mind his mind in the intervening months – great, that’s exactly the kind of admit-you-were-wrong-and-change-it pragmatism a successful leader needs – but why then are Falcao and van Persie starting together every match, then stinking the place out together every match, then starting together the next match ? Could it be that van Persie won’t be dropped because he’s Dutch, and Falcao won’t be dropped because his agent would take his fellow client de Gea away from us if we ruined the Columbian’s brand and value by sidelining him ?
I never thought for one moment that Falcao was a van Gaal choice. That instead, after the embarrassing fee for Angel di Saster (please take him PSG), Woodward was in a spending mood and Mendes was offering our esteemed executive vice chairman the appearance of being able to capture A-list targets after all. Combined with de Gea’s unsigned contract extension, the result is the hideous Frankenstein formation we see today. We’re told this is the route to a Top 4 finish – short-term pain for long-term gain – but whether our horrible handicapped football can withstand six pointers with Arsenal, Tottenham and Cesspool has got to be a worry.
Personally I think there’s a difference between doing a poor job in the here and now and calling out somebody’s whole track record. He’s made a lot of mistakes and my belief is that is boils down to three things:
1) A back four that he doesn’t fully trust (for good reason)
2) Lack of an energetic midfield enforcer/all-rounder
3) Zero pace up front.
As a result he’s made loads of compromises, first in personnel, then system, and then style of play.
It would show bravery to try at least the inclusion of Herrera when LvG sees that it`s working far better as recent games showed. Wenger-esque stubborness comes to mind….
I`ll never say that I understand Football in general more or that I`m closer to the training sessions BUT the numerous dire 1st halves and the improved 2nd half displays prove that I´m not that wrong
I agree with much of what has been said here and the article in general.
The football has been very poor recently (utterly shambolic v Burnley) and the continued absence of Hererra is a mystery when the whole team seems a yard faster with him on the pitch.
However, its not yet 12 months since we seen the back of Moyes. When I think back to how low we were last March, if some one had offered, for this season, 3rd place going into the final 3rd of the season I’d have take their hand off.
Top 4 should never be the limit of Uniteds aspiration , However, considering Van Gall had 4 weeks in the job before the start of the season and had to prepare what is effectively a new team. I think we should give him more time.
lets judge him next season. Nail down a top 4 finish (not going to even think about the FA cup) and kick on with a full pre-season behind him and a top class centre back on board.
By then I’d expect to be seeing more from DiMaria. I’d hope to see hererra as a regular starter, rooney restored to a striker role and let RVP/Falcao/Wilson battle it out for the other strikers position.
Mata , I’m afraid his days look numbered which is ironic considering the poderous pace United currently play at would suit him down to the ground.
I think Van Gaal is a nice guy. I think Van Persie is also nice guy. I can’t help but like them both. Van Gaal and Van Persie are friends. Van Gaal wants to keep VP happy, so we play with two strikers.
Therefore, I blame Van Persie for all our problems.