Manchester United must have tempered expectations

With the pre-season officially underway for Manchester United, players, supporters and pundits alike are all excited to see what the Red Devils can do under the guidance of legendary Dutch manager Louis van Gaal.

Fresh off a strong campaign in Brazil which saw the Netherlands finish third, Van Gaal is set to bring his tactical genius to the Premier League.  The question to be asked however, is if Manchester United supporters are expecting too much too soon?

LvG comes with a brilliant managerial track record;

"Career winning percentage: 61.33% (Sir Alex Ferguson – 58.14%, David Moyes – 44.58%)League Titles: Eredivisie (4), La Liga (2), Bundesliga (1)Continental Cups: Champions League (1), UEFA Cup (1), UEFA Super Cup (2)Domestic Cups: Dutch Cup (1), Copa Del Rey (1)"

While you cannot deny the pedigree of LvG and most would look at the success of the Netherlands this summer as a sign of good times to come for Manchester United this coming season (which will not include the distraction of Champions League football), supporters should not expect United to be guaranteed a top four finish or better.

Louis van Gaal is a manager that takes very hands-on approach with his players – this will play a large part in any success he hopes to bring to the club in his first season, but that will only go so far.

If you look just a little deeper into the Dutch performance this summer, you will see a side that, while finishing third over all, they struggled more than they coasted.  After their demolition of Spain (notable, but even Chile handled them with relative ease), and the ease with which they beat Brazil (a Brazil reeling after their embarrassment against Germany), they struggled against Australia and Chile, were lucky to escape against Mexico, and were then taken to penalties by both Costa Rica and Argentina.

More telling, is the fact that 11 of their 15 goals during the World Cup came in the matches against Spain (5), Australia (3) and Brazil (3).  Two goals against Mexico came in the final six minutes of the match, while their two against Chile also came in the second half.

If that is not enough to begin to ask a question or two, if you look at the numbers, four out of the Netherlands top five players in Brazil featured at the back.  A further look into the numbers brings to light that the top-two players in assists were wing-backs Daley Blind and Daryl Janmaat.  The 5-3-2 deployed by LvG was a huge success in defensive terms (they only allowed four in seven matches), but it did struggle to create enough quality chances due to it’s lack of width going forward.  Blind and Janmaat were quite capable getting forward, but against better sides, they could venture up the park far less frequently, and the opposition could easily sit deep and narrow which caused the Dutch attack grind to a screeching halt.

After the debacle that was the David Moyes regime, surely Manchester United supporters will be hoping for free-flowing attacking football at Old Trafford, but that is something LvG struggled to produce consistently with the Netherlands this summer, with a side more talented than the one he’ll have at United.

Louis van Gaal is sure to get the best out of Robin van Persie, but much will rely on what he can get out of the other players, as well as how he intends to deploy tactically.

Another cause for concern is player recruitment.  Having done well to bring in Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, and the club being linked with a high profile move for midfielder Arturo Vidal, United may find it difficult to bring in the names expected because of their inability to provide European football.  They were rebuffed in their attempts to acquire the services of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller.  They do have plenty of quality players at the club, especially in attack, and LvG should have no issues getting the best out of Robin van Persie, but it is highly unlikely the club will be an instant shoe-in as title contender.

United had the experience of what it is like having a manager come in after Sir Alex Ferguson – that is a very hard act to follow.  While LvG is a brilliant headmaster, you would think that the supporters would have learned their lesson the first time with the Moyes fiasco.

Truly, it may take the Dutchman till October or November till he gets the best out of his players, and even then, the success of the club will still rely on not only his ability to bring in further reinforcements before the window closes, but finding a way to make the 5-3-2 more effective, unless he plans to adopt a more tried and tested 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

All in all, it’s far better to be tempered than being over the moon before a single ball has been kicked.