Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired Manchester United have endured troubled times over the past 12-15 months. David Moyes was given the biggest task in football when he took over as manager of Manchester United but he never got the respect of the dressing room and he along with Ed Woodward failed to sign big players.
That along with dismal performances on the pitch meant that Manchester United finished outside the top 3 for the first time in Premier League history. The club won 13 league titles in 21 seasons under Ferguson along with 2 Champions leagues as well as various other domestic and european/international titles. Fergie's reign was one you rarely ever see and one that you are doubtful to see again when you look at today's football so for the man who many felt was the "chosen one" it was probably a foregone conclusion from the start that David Moyes would fail.
Even until the present day where Louis Van Gaal is the current manager of Manchester United many people have their opinions and say on the David Moyes era at the Theatre of Dreams. Some believe he could never succeed with the squad he had and why did LVG get over a hundred million pounds to spend when Moyes himself barely spent a penny; besides the Fellaini transfer which no Manchester United fan really once to be reminded of and a, at the time, club record transfer for Juan Mata who despite his qualities some still consider to be a panic buy.
I personally have nothing against David Moyes and respect his accomplishments as a manager to date but it's his lack of actual achievements which spelt disaster from the day he walked in to Old Trafford as the boss. How can a man with no previous trophies on his CV walk in to the biggest club in the world and say "There are only two world class players in the team: Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie" when the likes of Vidic, Evra, Ferdinand and Michael Carrick have won all there is to win in world football yet practically be told they're past it from day one that the new manager walked in.
Now this isn't me saying they are "world class" as to be world class nowadays well that's a whole different debate but you have to remember that the three defenders were part of one of if not Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest ever Manchester United side which won the Premier League and Champions League in the 07-08 season. They were the backbone with Edwin Van Der Sar and even the likes of Michael Carrick, who I believe is very underrated but highly respected in the football world, gave the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez to be "World class" and contribute to Manchester United's success.
So with that being said I feel that was Moyes' downfall. He was similar to Roy Hodgson's time in charge at Liverpool; afraid to do anything, awful results at home because of the pressure and not great in the transfer market. Last summer United were linked with a host of big names with the like of Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas all touted with moves to United but none came to fruition. Moyes isn't solely to blame as it took Ed Woodward a year to settle in to his role but when you say thing like "We aspire to play like Man City" and "I did want to take Robin off despite his injury because at 0-0 the fans would have worried we were not trying to win the game" well that in my opinion speaks volumes and shows he was not the man for the job plus no offence to Moyes but I wouldn't trust him with a budget of say £200 million otherwise it could have been similar to Mark Hughes' awful dealings during his time at Manchester City and you could even say at QPR too.
On to Louis Van Gaal well he is a man who took Holland to the semi-finals of the World Cup summer and guided them to finish 3rd overall in the tournament with the heartbreak of a penalty shootout leaving them wondering what if. The dfference between Louis Van Gaal and David Moyes is that Van Gaal is world class and proven; he's won league titles in Germany, Holland and Spain. He was also the man who guided the famous Ajax 90's team to back to back Champions League finals with the Dutch side winning one and losing the following year. He was close to winning the treble with Bayern Munich a few years ago when they were in a somewhat similar state to how Manchester United are now but they lost at the final hurdle in Europe to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan who won the treble themselves that year in 2009-2010.
Van Gaal is a man who will not rest on his laurels and wants to succeed. Manchester United are one of if not the biggest club in the world and in modern football you can't afford for time to stand still which is why someone like LVG has the perfect pedigree to turn thee club around. As all Manchester United fans know when Sir Matt Busby retired they went in to years of decline until Sir Alex came along in the 80's but with the way football is today you cannot afford to fall behind your rivals for years on end as the climb to get back to the top is rather steep!
So back to Van Gaal well as we all know and as I have pointed out he is proven all over the world. At Bayern Munich It took him 3 months to settle and he has repeatedly said it will take at least 3 months for him to implement his philosophy at Manchester United. At Bayern the year they won the double in 09-10 he was almost sacked in November until he pulled off a 2-1 victory when he stuck a centre back up front in the closing minutes of the game with the player scoring the winning goal. LVG put Bayern back on the map and he's the man to do it for Manchester United. He's brought various established world class players in today's footballing world through the ranks at Bayern and Barcelona from the likes of Xavi to Thomas Muller to Bastian Schweinsteiger as well as helping the likes of Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert establish themselves at Ajax.
The list of young players he has helped establish is endless and while I have mentioned the obvious everyone with footballing knowledge knows the brain that LVG has and I personally find him very intriguing to listen to. As for Manchester United this season well they have endured a topsy turvy start from disappointing results against Burnley and Leicester to wins at home against QPR and West Ham. At the moment they have 8 points from 6 games, 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses which leaves them with a point more than what they had at this point last season. Defensively there are still many issues but Manchester United have enough quality players at their disposal to bounce back and make it in to the top 4.
Chelsea appear to be the runaways contenders for the title, Arsenal still have questions surrounding their spine and grit along with not having the nohow to win big games whilst Liverpool are suffering a bad start to the season now that they have Champions League football to become accustomed to as well as trying to get on with life since the departure of Luis Suarez whereas Manchester City seem like they could have Mancini 2.0 type season after their title winning campaign last year with more misery in Europe on their shoulders. Personally and I think many people will agree that City and Chelsea are going to be the top 2 in the league this season but the rest is up for grabs although realistically the next two places will be out of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as I don't think Tottenham or Everton possess the quality in depth to play in the Europa League as well as mount a challenge for the top 4.
Going forward with the likes of Di Maria, Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Mata and young starlet Adnan Januzaj you would say that Van Gaal has a beautiful headache problem when it comes to his attacking players. Midfield wise Michael Carrick will be welcomed back from injury with open arms whilst Ander Herrera is slowly finding his feet and putting in good performances for the club. Phil Jones always plays well at the back for United, Tyler Blackett could be a good centre back in the future and McNair had a fantastic debut last weekend to surprise many doubters. Rafael has an awful temperament and personally I feel this is a make or break season for him along with Chris Smalling who hasn't really progresses since joining from Fulham and the £30 million pound price tag for left back Luke Shaw will continue to come under criticism until he proves otherwise but I must say that Rojo is a good signing and looks like a good centre half who is comfortable on the ball.
Defensively their are issues but between the sticks United have a potential world class keeper in David De Gea who for me is probably the third best keeper in the league just behind Courtois and Hugo Lloris. Before Di Maria was signed I thought that United should wait to see come January if they were in the top 4 positions then sign him as I thought he would need convincing but thankfully the fantastic Argentine was signed and has been a breath of fresh air to Old Trafford. Falcao will come good as he is a world class striker and is having a similar start to Carlos Tevez who had a few positive early performances at the start of his United career until he started scoring too.
There's a long road ahead but as we all know Rome wasn't built in a day. Now I feel that Manchester United have quality players in the squad who can dictate games and put the so called lesser teams to the sword which is something we lacked last year and was undoubtedly a key reason to why David Moyes' United sides played so poorly at home. Moyes had a fantastic away record and still managed to win games on the road but that was down to a less pressure and more freedom for his players. Van Gaal has installed a new mentality in to the United side which everyone can see and I think Old Trafford is slowly becoming a hard place for teams to come to again despite a nervy victory over West Ham last weekend. Everton will be a massive test this Sunday at home as Roberto Martinez's teams always play good football and come to win the game so we'll see how United fair against a side that always seems to pull out top performances against the big sides and are coming to Old Trafford in high spirits after their draw at Anfield last weekend.
A victory over Everton would be the perfect way to end the first 7 games to the season before the international break and ahead of a set of fixtures after the break which will clearly put Van Gaal to the test. United play West Brom away on Monday night football before taking Chelsea on at home on Super Sunday and then facing Manchester City again on Super Sunday at the Etihad. Arsenal also come to Old Trafford two weeks after the City game so there are big tests ahead before Van Gaal has his first crack at the hectic festive calender that the Premier League has to offer but I feel that once United get their players fresh they will end 2014 on a high and go in to the new year in good spirits. Kevin Strootman could be a wise addition come January and is a lot more realistic as opposed to the Vidal transfer rumours which became the second coming of Wesley Sneijder but to finish on a positive I will definitely stick my neck out and say that Louis Van Gaal is the man for Manchester United and will get them back in to the top 4 this season!
Article contributed by Skype Pank
That along with dismal performances on the pitch meant that Manchester United finished outside the top 3 for the first time in Premier League history. The club won 13 league titles in 21 seasons under Ferguson along with 2 Champions leagues as well as various other domestic and european/international titles. Fergie's reign was one you rarely ever see and one that you are doubtful to see again when you look at today's football so for the man who many felt was the "chosen one" it was probably a foregone conclusion from the start that David Moyes would fail.
Even until the present day where Louis Van Gaal is the current manager of Manchester United many people have their opinions and say on the David Moyes era at the Theatre of Dreams. Some believe he could never succeed with the squad he had and why did LVG get over a hundred million pounds to spend when Moyes himself barely spent a penny; besides the Fellaini transfer which no Manchester United fan really once to be reminded of and a, at the time, club record transfer for Juan Mata who despite his qualities some still consider to be a panic buy.
I personally have nothing against David Moyes and respect his accomplishments as a manager to date but it's his lack of actual achievements which spelt disaster from the day he walked in to Old Trafford as the boss. How can a man with no previous trophies on his CV walk in to the biggest club in the world and say "There are only two world class players in the team: Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie" when the likes of Vidic, Evra, Ferdinand and Michael Carrick have won all there is to win in world football yet practically be told they're past it from day one that the new manager walked in.
Now this isn't me saying they are "world class" as to be world class nowadays well that's a whole different debate but you have to remember that the three defenders were part of one of if not Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest ever Manchester United side which won the Premier League and Champions League in the 07-08 season. They were the backbone with Edwin Van Der Sar and even the likes of Michael Carrick, who I believe is very underrated but highly respected in the football world, gave the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez to be "World class" and contribute to Manchester United's success.
So with that being said I feel that was Moyes' downfall. He was similar to Roy Hodgson's time in charge at Liverpool; afraid to do anything, awful results at home because of the pressure and not great in the transfer market. Last summer United were linked with a host of big names with the like of Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas all touted with moves to United but none came to fruition. Moyes isn't solely to blame as it took Ed Woodward a year to settle in to his role but when you say thing like "We aspire to play like Man City" and "I did want to take Robin off despite his injury because at 0-0 the fans would have worried we were not trying to win the game" well that in my opinion speaks volumes and shows he was not the man for the job plus no offence to Moyes but I wouldn't trust him with a budget of say £200 million otherwise it could have been similar to Mark Hughes' awful dealings during his time at Manchester City and you could even say at QPR too.
On to Louis Van Gaal well he is a man who took Holland to the semi-finals of the World Cup summer and guided them to finish 3rd overall in the tournament with the heartbreak of a penalty shootout leaving them wondering what if. The dfference between Louis Van Gaal and David Moyes is that Van Gaal is world class and proven; he's won league titles in Germany, Holland and Spain. He was also the man who guided the famous Ajax 90's team to back to back Champions League finals with the Dutch side winning one and losing the following year. He was close to winning the treble with Bayern Munich a few years ago when they were in a somewhat similar state to how Manchester United are now but they lost at the final hurdle in Europe to Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan who won the treble themselves that year in 2009-2010.
Van Gaal is a man who will not rest on his laurels and wants to succeed. Manchester United are one of if not the biggest club in the world and in modern football you can't afford for time to stand still which is why someone like LVG has the perfect pedigree to turn thee club around. As all Manchester United fans know when Sir Matt Busby retired they went in to years of decline until Sir Alex came along in the 80's but with the way football is today you cannot afford to fall behind your rivals for years on end as the climb to get back to the top is rather steep!
So back to Van Gaal well as we all know and as I have pointed out he is proven all over the world. At Bayern Munich It took him 3 months to settle and he has repeatedly said it will take at least 3 months for him to implement his philosophy at Manchester United. At Bayern the year they won the double in 09-10 he was almost sacked in November until he pulled off a 2-1 victory when he stuck a centre back up front in the closing minutes of the game with the player scoring the winning goal. LVG put Bayern back on the map and he's the man to do it for Manchester United. He's brought various established world class players in today's footballing world through the ranks at Bayern and Barcelona from the likes of Xavi to Thomas Muller to Bastian Schweinsteiger as well as helping the likes of Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert establish themselves at Ajax.
The list of young players he has helped establish is endless and while I have mentioned the obvious everyone with footballing knowledge knows the brain that LVG has and I personally find him very intriguing to listen to. As for Manchester United this season well they have endured a topsy turvy start from disappointing results against Burnley and Leicester to wins at home against QPR and West Ham. At the moment they have 8 points from 6 games, 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses which leaves them with a point more than what they had at this point last season. Defensively there are still many issues but Manchester United have enough quality players at their disposal to bounce back and make it in to the top 4.
Chelsea appear to be the runaways contenders for the title, Arsenal still have questions surrounding their spine and grit along with not having the nohow to win big games whilst Liverpool are suffering a bad start to the season now that they have Champions League football to become accustomed to as well as trying to get on with life since the departure of Luis Suarez whereas Manchester City seem like they could have Mancini 2.0 type season after their title winning campaign last year with more misery in Europe on their shoulders. Personally and I think many people will agree that City and Chelsea are going to be the top 2 in the league this season but the rest is up for grabs although realistically the next two places will be out of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United as I don't think Tottenham or Everton possess the quality in depth to play in the Europa League as well as mount a challenge for the top 4.
Going forward with the likes of Di Maria, Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao, Mata and young starlet Adnan Januzaj you would say that Van Gaal has a beautiful headache problem when it comes to his attacking players. Midfield wise Michael Carrick will be welcomed back from injury with open arms whilst Ander Herrera is slowly finding his feet and putting in good performances for the club. Phil Jones always plays well at the back for United, Tyler Blackett could be a good centre back in the future and McNair had a fantastic debut last weekend to surprise many doubters. Rafael has an awful temperament and personally I feel this is a make or break season for him along with Chris Smalling who hasn't really progresses since joining from Fulham and the £30 million pound price tag for left back Luke Shaw will continue to come under criticism until he proves otherwise but I must say that Rojo is a good signing and looks like a good centre half who is comfortable on the ball.
Defensively their are issues but between the sticks United have a potential world class keeper in David De Gea who for me is probably the third best keeper in the league just behind Courtois and Hugo Lloris. Before Di Maria was signed I thought that United should wait to see come January if they were in the top 4 positions then sign him as I thought he would need convincing but thankfully the fantastic Argentine was signed and has been a breath of fresh air to Old Trafford. Falcao will come good as he is a world class striker and is having a similar start to Carlos Tevez who had a few positive early performances at the start of his United career until he started scoring too.
There's a long road ahead but as we all know Rome wasn't built in a day. Now I feel that Manchester United have quality players in the squad who can dictate games and put the so called lesser teams to the sword which is something we lacked last year and was undoubtedly a key reason to why David Moyes' United sides played so poorly at home. Moyes had a fantastic away record and still managed to win games on the road but that was down to a less pressure and more freedom for his players. Van Gaal has installed a new mentality in to the United side which everyone can see and I think Old Trafford is slowly becoming a hard place for teams to come to again despite a nervy victory over West Ham last weekend. Everton will be a massive test this Sunday at home as Roberto Martinez's teams always play good football and come to win the game so we'll see how United fair against a side that always seems to pull out top performances against the big sides and are coming to Old Trafford in high spirits after their draw at Anfield last weekend.
A victory over Everton would be the perfect way to end the first 7 games to the season before the international break and ahead of a set of fixtures after the break which will clearly put Van Gaal to the test. United play West Brom away on Monday night football before taking Chelsea on at home on Super Sunday and then facing Manchester City again on Super Sunday at the Etihad. Arsenal also come to Old Trafford two weeks after the City game so there are big tests ahead before Van Gaal has his first crack at the hectic festive calender that the Premier League has to offer but I feel that once United get their players fresh they will end 2014 on a high and go in to the new year in good spirits. Kevin Strootman could be a wise addition come January and is a lot more realistic as opposed to the Vidal transfer rumours which became the second coming of Wesley Sneijder but to finish on a positive I will definitely stick my neck out and say that Louis Van Gaal is the man for Manchester United and will get them back in to the top 4 this season!
Article contributed by Skype Pank
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Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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