Is Van Gaal’s Tactical Anarchism To Blame For Manchester United’s Regression

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A Lot has been said about Louis van Gaal’s bland tenure as the manager of Manchester United. Pragmatic to a fault, and with no tactical flexibility, United’s game has regressed to a level that was unthinkable a few years ago. Yet when he needs a result, to ease the pressure, like the 2-0 win against Crystal Palace, the Dutchman seems to have got one.

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On Saturday afternoon, United hosted Aston Villa – quite possibly the worst side the Premier League has seen in recent years since Derby County in the 2007-08 season. Incidentally, such has been United’s form of late, if there was any team you would expect them to run riot against, it was Villa. Even though Marcus Rashford’s 32nd-minute strike condemned Villa to relegation, United looked overly cautious against a side that has scored just 23 goals in the league this term. Van Gaal deployed two holding midfielders – Morgan Schneiderlin and Marouane Fellaini – demonstrating his predilection for unalterable and extreme tactical rigidity, against an appalling Vila side that has won none of their last 16 away games in the Premier League.

It has been a recurring theme this season that whenever United are expected to comfortably brush aside a weaker opposition, they have laboured and more often than not have become victims of their own lack of creativity in the final third. When you take into account that Villa were beaten 4-0 by both Chelsea and City in recent weeks, United’s 1-0 win at home reeks of a lack of urgency and an apparent undersupply of intent.

Former Real Madrid player and Bayern Munich legend Paul Breitner had an interesting take on Van Gaal’s style of play while the Dutchman was at Bayern Munich. “He changed a few positions and introduced possession-based football. We swapped Bayern’s traditional style for this high-possession game. But there was still no flexibility in terms of players’ positions and everyone had to stick rigidly to his own area,” said Breitner in an interview with author Marti Peranau in his book Pep Confidential.

Things at United perfectly mirrors Van Gaal’s time at Bayern. The Dutchman’s possession based game has overthrown the free flowing, direct and counter attacking football that United were so good at for the best part of the last three decades.

“No one was allowed to wander out of his specified sphere of influence and we began to play one-touch football. We had to focus on passing the ball to each other,” added Breitner.

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In the game against Tottenham, that United lost 3-0, Van Gaal pitted Juan Mata against the in-form Danny Rose. Mata’s lack of pace or strength meant he’s better suited in a central area, instead, he was pinned back to help young Timothy Fosu-Mensah contain a possible counter-attack. While Jesse Lingard, the only one in the United side other than Anthony Martial who has reasonable pace to go past players was deployed in the No.10 role trying to create something out of nothing against arguably the best defence in the league. Needless to say, it was fruitless.

The game against Tottenham also bore witness to the most baffling tactical substitution from Van Gaal since the 3-2 loss against Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League group stage match in December where he brought on Nick Powell for Juan Mata, with his team 2-1 down and on the verge of elimination.

Marcus Rashford was replaced by Ashley Young at half-time. You would expect Young to trade places with Anthony Martial but to everyone’s disbelief, he operated as a lone striker. A winger operating as a striker, a striker playing as a winger, another winger playing as the No.10 and a quintessential No.10 playing wide right. It sounds about right. United were forced to resort to a cumbersome passing game inside their own half without any strategic foundation whatsoever.

“In some matches we ended up with 80% of possession, but there was no real rhythm or pace. After half an hour, everyone in the Allianz Arena would be yawning at this display of constant passing. I bet all of the 71,000 spectators could predict our every move. Our game was well executed but very, very predictable,” Breitner finished in what could easily pass on as an analogy of Manchester United under Louis van Gaal.

It is possession without any ambition that has upset United fans in the past two years. The air of despondency still lingers around Old Trafford with a vast multitude of fans seemingly given up on the season and prepared to start afresh from next season under a new manager, with a new mindset and the right philosophy to take this great club forward.

There have been a few factors that have managed to mitigate Van Gaal’s poor if not completely disastrous reign as manager. The rise of youth, homegrown players, in particular, have been a delight to watch. Eighteen-year-old Marcus Rashford has had a remarkable rise in stature this season and has seemingly established himself as a mainstay in the starting XI. The likes of Jesse Lingard, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, etc. have enjoyed more game time than previously expected.

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Patience, among other things, is what Van Gaal has contributed most to United’s style of play. United are now prepared to keep the ball for as long as possible. Although that has backfired on more than one occasion, it will offer a new manager a wonderful foundation to build his legacy on.

When Jupp Heynckes took over Bayern Munich following Van Gaal’s departure, he did nothing but tinker with an already established footballing system by adding a bit of pace and most importantly a polished attacking rhythm to the game. It took a while for the players to fully implement his ideas on the pitch but the team eventually won a treble.

With speculation surrounding Van Gaal’s future at United at an all-time high, it would be a big surprise if the board decide to continue with him next season.

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