A 90-MINUTE DOCUMENTARY about Louis van Gaal was aired on MUTV this week in which the Manchester United manager spoke passionately about his fabled philosophy.
Philosophy. It is a word we have heard from Van Gaal almost every time he has opened his mouth since he started the job last July, but finally it is starting to click at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman began the season asking for three months to get United back into shape. It took twice as long as predicted, but the manner of United’s back-to-back victories over Tottenham and Liverpool suggests the players are now implementing the message.
“I attack in four phases and I defend in four phases. I think the players here know everything about the philosophy now but now they have to perform it,” he said in Louis van Gaal: My life, my philosophy on Tuesday night.
United have certainly delivered in the last two matches as Van Gaal has stumbled across a winning formula that leaves the club fourth in the Premier League table, five points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool as they seek a place in next season’s Champions League.
It has been a rocky campaign. After 10 matches, United had just 13 league points and had suffered a humiliating League Cup exit to MK Dons.
Results improved gradually but performances remained dour and predictable into the start of March when they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Arsenal.
Big money summer signings – particularly Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao – failed to make an impact, Wayne Rooney spent three months as a central midfielder and United played with a caution that had the Stretford End screaming for more attacking football.
Whether he meant it or not, though, Van Gaal then discovered the winning formula that brought United’s best performances since Alex Ferguson’s retirement with a 3-0 victory against Tottenham and an even more impressive 2-1 win away at bitter rivals Liverpool.
Injuries to Robin van Persie and Luke Shaw, a suspension for Di Maria and the return of Michael Carrick coincided with Van Gaal’s decision to stop tinkering with his formation and return to the 4-3-3 system that won him titles at Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AZ Alkmaar.
Rooney was deployed in his favoured striker role, supported by a Marouane Fellaini freed to employ the strength and movement opposition defenders found so hard to handle in his time at Everton. Carrick’s return restored a calming, ball-retention to United’s midfield, while Van Gaal’s aversion to out-and-out wingers finally found its reflection in a compact central three that was able to shut down opponents whilst interchanging to great effect with a fluid front three.
Even the selections of Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia at full-back satisfied what felt like Van Gaal’s season-long pursuit of unglamorous, but keenly effective defenders out wide.
The result? Cohesive performances, with players in their best positions and using their quality to control matches and score goals. With a star-studded squad that has been boosted by more than £220 million spent on new signings over the last two seasons, it should be the minimum requirement.
The revival, and the likelihood of United finishing in the top four, means questions over whether Van Gaal will be in charge next season have faded away. Their season has turned around in just two games and former United defender Phil Neville believes Premier League rivals will now take notice.
“The unbelievable thing was things like the performances against Tottenham and Liverpool,” Neville told Goal . “The first half against Liverpool was probably the best Manchester United performance I’ve seen in three years and that includes some of the Sir Alex Ferguson era as well, including the year they won the title. It was that good, it was a special performance.
“I think really in that performance the rest of the league would have gone ‘wow’. You can see that it’s been building up to that type of performance and it’s been good that they can start moving forward and playing like a Manchester United team with the players looking like they’re enjoying it.”
Van Gaal is no stranger to slow starts, in fact they are a surprising feature of his career.
In his first season with Bayern Munich, for example, his side won just five of their first 13 Bundesliga matches and were seventh in the table towards the end of November.
By May, however, Bayern were German champions and domestic cup winners, as well as Champions League finalists where Van Gaal was only denied a treble by Jose Mourinho’s Inter.
Likewise, when Van Gaal led AZ to a surprise Dutch title in 2008-09, he lost the first two matches to NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag and the team sat fourth in the Eredivisie after 13 matches.
At Barcelona, the 1998-99 season was heading for disaster with the Catalan giants 10th in La Liga after 14 games having won just five matches. A run of 19 wins in their remaining 24 matches clinched the title.
It is too late for United to win the title this season, of course, but the scene is set for a title challenge next term, especially with another £150m available for Van Gaal to spend this summer.
“I think they can [challenge for the title],” Neville added. “I think you’ve seen this year that there’s very little to choose between second and seventh place. If United improve in the summer, bring in some quality, a couple of quality players, not too many, I think they can kick on. I think they’ll keep improving. You’ve seen it this season, the improvement has been gradual.
“I think if they finish in the Champions League spots, that’s the key for United. That’ll give them the confidence and when you get into the Champions League the levels will obviously need to go up, this young team will become a year older and they’ll be ready to mount a challenge.”
Once Van Gaal realised the size of the task ahead of him, the 63-year-old claimed in November that he would need all three years of his contract to return United to greatness.
The comforting news for United supporters is that Van Gaal did not win his first title with his much-acclaimed and dominant Ajax team of the 1990s until his third season as manager.
His complex tactical instructions and scrupulous demands from his players have taken time to get through, with Van Gaal likening their learning experience to his attempts to drive on the left side of the road when he first moved to England.
Van Gaal has a roadmap, a blueprint. It has brought titles at every club he has managed. Now, perhaps, we are finally starting to see his philosophy in action for Manchester United.
- Greg Stobart
