INTERVIEW | Season Preview with United Rant

The Cockney Red: What did you make of van Gaal’s first season in charge?

United Rant: There is certainly an aura about Louis van Gaal that offers him much greater leeway than many coaches could expect. David Moyes might well look at the inconsistencies last season and the huge amount of money spent last summer, and wonder what might have been. The team only occasionally excelled last season – games against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester City come to mind when it really counted during the spring.



But there is also much to be frustrated with as well. Van Gaal’s constant tinkering with personnel and systems has probably hindered, not helped, his side. There will be a time when tactical flexibility is a huge boon for United; during a period of rebuilding it looked very much like van Gaal simply couldn’t make his mind up. Then there was the unexplained tactical choices: retaining Rooney no matter how poor the captain’s performances, and benching Ander Herrera, Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria for large parts of the season. Surely a coach of Van Gaal’s standing could draw more from that latter pair?



The positives outweigh any criticism though. Van Gaal’s aura counts for much more than a superficial observation. He is a manager that a squad has rallied around – Di Maria excepted - and for whom many of the continent’s best players will want to play. The Dutchman may well spend no more time at United than the three years on his contract, but there is at least some belief he hold’s a real plan for success.



TCR: What do you make of the summer signings – Depay, Darmian, Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin?

UR: Exciting, sensible, and just what United needed. Memphis will add huge amount of pace up front in the coming season and should get double figures for the campaign as well. Van Gaal used his fellow countryman at number 10 during pre-season, but he’ll be useful on the wing too – especially with teams that deploy a deep and narrow back four against United.



Darmian is a very sound defensive buy. He’s a player who is “a defender first,” but also one that puts up good attacking numbers: goals, assists and plenty of accurate crosses. Many United supporters will miss Rafael’s buccaneering style. Darmian is more conservative, but there’s also plenty of evidence to suggest that he’s a player Van Gaal can trust. If United’s defence is more sound then the Dutchman can be a little bolder in attack.



Then there’s Schweinsteiger, whose age and injury record has been overplayed. Make no mistake this is a huge coup for United, which is still a team without a real leader. Think of the experience lost in recent seasons: Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patric Evra, Ryan Giggs – even Nani, Anderson and Rafael had been at the club for seven to eight years. Schweinsteiger may not ‘bleed red’ just yet, but his influence will certainly be important.



TCR: Who has impressed you in pre-season and why?

UR: Few to be honest. It was a muted tour with, perhaps, only really 45 minutes of very good football when the youngsters tore Barcelona apart in Santa Clara. Still, Memphis and Darmian did very well, as did Luke Shaw who is looking fitter than at any time in his career to date. Andreas Perreira looked exciting too – transferring his excellent performances at reserve level to the first team with a confidence that suggests he could make it at United. Perreira probably won’t see a lot of football in the coming season as there’s so much competition in central and wide areas, but he’s certainly given his manager an option.



TCR: Who do you think will be our best player this season and why?

UR: Heart says Juan Mata. Van Gaal has just got to find a way to ensure Mata is central to United’s attacking play – the Spaniard is by far the Reds’ most creative player. Mata’s role as a “false right winger” works as long as there is the tactical flexibility to ensure he can come inside and dictate play at any point. When Mata is forced to hug the touchline it breaks down and the player’s lack of pace and defensive instincts fail him. There will be many occasions when it is much more sensible to push Mata inside and use Memphis’ pace on the wings.



TCR: van Gaal has suggested on a number of occasions that United's spending this summer isn't over - who else would you like to see arrive at United?

UR: United need two players: an experienced central defender and a striker. Van Gaal could get away without recruiting the latter if a top quality goalscoring right-winger joins the club, but there is little in Rooney’s history to suggest he’s going to top 30 goals for the season. Given how rusty Rooney looked in pre-season, 20 might well be a stretch for a player who also has a patchy injury record and only ever scores in bursts.



The defender is important though. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling signed new contracts in the summer, but neither has the injury record to suggest they will play 50 games this season. Nor, to be fair, is either consistent enough to say that Van Gaal will turn to them for the whole campaign. Jones was poor in pre-season, while the experiment with Daley Blind is unlikely to last very long. The Dutchman’s lack of height and pace is too easy to target. Jonny Evans…well, let’s not even mention Jonny Evans. It leaves Van Gaal with Marcos Rojo, whose own injury record wasn’t a good one over the past year, and a clutch of defenders with serious questions being asked.



TCR: I recently wrote a piece on Di Maria and how he should stay, win back the fans and become a United legend. Of course the situation became beyond repairable and he now looks set to become a PSG player. Why do you think it went so wrong for him at United, and do you think he'll be able to find his form again at PSG?

UR: In the end it was just four words that ended di Maria’s time at United: Louis van Gaal’s assertion that he “does not know why” the Argentinian failed to board a plane to the United States to join his team-mates on tour. It was a damning assessment of the player and his failings. In the end Di Maria didn’t produce enough on the pitch for United, but it will perhaps be events off it that provide the real narrative to the player’s time at the club. Di Maria was weak of mind and spirit; a player that was never emotionally invested in a move to United. There is no solitary cause of Di Maria’s failure, but the player’s attitude comes under renewed scrutiny now. Not just failure to attend the tour, but for the rapid descent in performances as the season wore on.



Much of the player’s change in attitude has been laid at the door of a January break-in, where burglars used scaffolding and ladders to rob the Cheshire family home, but it is also an excuse over-played. Di Maria and family did not want to be in Manchester to start with.



That form was not helped by a succession of minor injuries to his thigh, hamstring and a variety of muscles, although the player missed just four games in total for United through injury alone. Nor did Van Gaal’s incessant tinkering help Di Maria settle. The winger played almost every attacking position at the club. In the end, though, the fault for failure lies squarely at Di Maria’s door.



TCR: The other transfer saga surrounding a player leaving Old Trafford is David de Gea’s proposed move to Real Madrid. How do you see that panning out? And if he was to leave who would you like to replace him?

UR: David De Gea, alongside Thibaut Courtois and Manuel Neuer, is comfortably one of the three best goalkeepers on the planet. Losing the Spaniard will be a huge blow, although one softened if United adds a top quality central defender to the Schweinsteiger-Schneilderlin defensive midfield axis. There will be less for a new ‘keeper to do!



There’s no obvious replacement candidate. Hugo Lloris had a fine season last year, but he is poor with his feet. It doesn’t feel like a natural candidate for United’s possession-based game. Whatever happens, if De Gea goes United cannot fall back into a Roy Carroll-Tim Howard style axis of mediocrity. Anders LIndegaard and Sergio Romero are born for the bench!



TCR: In your opinion what is United’s strongest starting XI?

UR: As it stands. De Gea; Darmian, Smalling, Rojo, Shaw; Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Herrera; Mata, Rooney, Memphis



TCR: And finally, how do you think United will do this season (both domestically and in Europe)?

UR: It is unlike United to aim for second best, but anything within five points of the Premier League champions will represent good progress for the club. There are still weaknesses in Van Gaal’s squad that suggest that, while a title challenge is very realistic, it is unlikely United will be picking up number 21 next May. In Europe the quarter-finals is about par for the course, although the club will draw a tough group stage opponent given how far United’s UEFA coefficient has fallen.