After a successful World Cup campaign with The Netherlands, Louis Van Gaal will now join up with Manchester United as the new manager of the club after the departure of David Moyes last season. Louis Van Gaal is a very experienced manager, who has managed Holland and Barcelona twice, Ajax, AZ, Bayern Munich, and now Manchester United. He faces a tough task this season after a horrible year for the Red Devils, which saw them finish 7th in the Premier League. Van Gaal will need to discipline the team and get that winning mentality back into the players. He is a terrific manager and many call him a tactical genius. He implemented a 5-3-2 formation for the Netherlands World Cup team with a defensive counter attack. Many are of the opinion that he will keep that philosophy at Man United, but others say that isn’t likely because the way United traditionally play is fluid, fast paced attacking football. It will be interesting to see how Van Gaal applies his philosophy; he could test out a 5-3-2 in pre season in the upcoming weeks in USA and if it doesn’t look good then I’m sure Van Gaal has a wealth of experience with big clubs and I am sure he won’t be short of ideas.
With all the honours Van Gaal has, he should be successful at Manchester United, but this of course will be dependant on who he buys. Areas of the team that need strengthening would without a doubt be center midfield & center back positions. With the departure of Nemanja Vidic & Rio Ferdinand, that leaves United short of center backs and Van Gaal will certainly look to add to that position. Left back Luke Shaw who recently signed is a huge boost to the defense. Already signing Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera will strengthen their midfield but that in my opinion won’t be enough if United want to get back to where they are used to being at the top of the table. Lots of reports that Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal could be joining, but as of now they are merely rumours. If United can get their hands on him then they will be all but good in the midfield with Vidal & Herrera playing alongside each other; both are box to box midfielders and have much to offer. Man United will need to get busy in this summer transfer window to strengthen their squad, if they will want to get their hands back on the Premier League trophy.