Moving Target – Louis Van Gaal

After weeks of speculation, Man United finally confirmed Louis Van Gaal as manager last week. The Dutchman arrives at Old Trafford on a three-year deal and will begin his duties once Holland’s participation in this summer’s World Cup comes to an end:

Van Gaal brings Frank Hoek and Marcel Bout on board as goalkeeping and assistant coaches respectively and has also decided to hand Ryan Giggs the assistant manager role after the latter was placed in charge for the final four matches of the previous campaign due to David Moyes’ dismissal. Speaking to the club’s official website, the 62-year-old spoke of his determination to drag United back into title contention next term after a dismal season under Moyes:

“It was always a wish for me to work in the Premier League. To work as a manager for Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, makes me very proud. I have managed in games at Old Trafford before and know what an incredible arena Old Trafford is and how passionate and knowledgeable the fans are. This club has big ambitions; I too have big ambitions. Together I’m sure we will make history.”

The History

Born and bred in Amsterdam, Van Gaal was snapped up by Ajax in 1971 but famously never played for the first-team. Instead, he was loaned out to Belgian outfit Royal Antwerp, and, plying his trade in midfield for four years, helped the club to a couple of second-placed finishes before returning to his homeland to sign for Telstar in 1977. A year later Van Gaal was off to Sparta Rotterdam, where he played 248 times in eight seasons, scoring 26 times, before switching to AZ Alkmaar to take up a player/coach role in 1986.

After a few months in the job, Van Gaal moved back to Ajax to work as Leo Beenhakker’s assistant and finally took over the reins in 1991 after the latter’s departure. Steering the Amsterdam outfit to 11 trophies, including three league titles, a Champions League, a UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup, Van Gaal caught the eye of Barcelona and moved to the Nou Camp six years later.

His time in Spain was fairly short-lived, though. Despite steering the Catalan club to a couple of league titles, Spanish cup and a UEFA Super Cup in three seasons, his battles with both the press and a number of Barca’s first-team squad saw him return to Holland to take over as national manager for the first time.

Van Gaal’s stint as Dutch boss lasted less than two years after they failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup under his guidance. He returned to Barcelona but was dismissed within a season, with the club lying just three points above the drop zone, whilst a return to Ajax as technical director the following year also failed to work out, leading to his resignation due to internal issues amongst the board.

In July 2005, Van Gaal returned to management with AZ Alkmaar. During his four seasons at the club, he managed third, second and first place finishes and, after leading his side to the 2008-09 title, he was snapped up by Bayern Munich in time for the following campaign. In his first season in Germany, Van Gaal – after a difficult first few months – won the domestic double and also led Bayern to the Champions League Final, tasting defeat at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.

After failing to recapture the league in his second season, Van Gaal was sacked by the Bavarian giants and waited another year before taking up his next job, returning to manage Holland once again. This time round his stint has been more successful – the Dutch won nine and drew one of their 10 World Cup qualifying matches to take their place in next month’s tournament.

The Previous Regime

Moyes’ brief stint at the helm was undoubtedly a disastrous few months. Whilst at Everton, his tactics proved successful in establishing the Toffees as one of the toughest teams to crack in the top-flight but, with the onus to attack at United, he seemed unable to adapt his philosophy.

At home, in particular, the Red Devils struggled to impose themselves on visiting sides. Moyes won seven and lost six of his 16 home matches in charge, scoring a mere 22 times and conceding 19 – a far cry from Sir Alex Ferguson’s final year at the helm, where United won 16 of their 19 home fixtures. On the road, United won 10 times in 18 fixtures under Moyes and ended with 34 away points – surprisingly, for all their faults, only Liverpool and Arsenal, with 35 points apiece, managed more on their travels.

Overall, though, with a mere 64 points accrued, United finished 22 points off title-winning neighbours City and 25 points less than their final year under Ferguson -as the club stuttered from one bad result to the next and with rumours of dressing room discontent emerging, it was no surprise to see Moyes finally put out of his misery.

The Season Ahead

In terms of both tactics and personnel, sweeping changes are expected as Van Gaal is tasked with returning the club to former glories. A move to 4-3-3 is widely anticipated, given this has been the 62-year-old’s preferred formation throughout his career, though during his time with AZ, he admitted it’s the players who will ultimately dictate his likely set-up:

“It’s a footballing philosophy more than a system. A system depends on the players you have. I played 4-3-3 with Ajax, 2-3-2-3 with Barcelona and I can play 4-4-2 with AZ. I’m flexible. The philosophy stays the same though.”

Certainly, this fits in with the Dutchman’s decision to opt for a 5-3-2 formation in Holland’s recent friendly draw against Ecuador, with Van Gaal citing the absence of playmaker Kevin Strootman and the lack of a first-class left-back as the main reasons for his tinkering. With enough time to scan the summer transfer market, though, it seems more likely that Van Gaal’s targets will be aimed towards a 4-3-3 set-up at United – a situation which would dent our faith in both Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata’s Fantasy prospects, given both players’ desire to be fielded through the centre.

There seems little doubt that, having worked with Robin Van Persie for the Dutch national side over the past couple of years, Van Gaal is likely to not only hand his compatriot the central role in the front three, he could well be set to name the former Arsenal man as his new captain due to Nemanja Vidic’s departure. Speaking to the press after the recent draw with Ecuador, the Holland boss was unsparing in his praise of Van Persie:

“He is my captain. He is my top scorer in the one-and-a-half years that he has played under me. He became all-time top scorer of the Dutch team, he plays superb football and even coming back from a bad injury, he scores a fantastic, unbelievable goal. I was happy with his performance, but he is also a fantastic captain. I think you always make a player captain when you have the same morals and philosophy. Not only about football and tactics and what is happening on the pitch but about life. I think that’s very important and I believe that Van Persie and Van Gaal share the same philosophy.”

In addition to a possible change of position, it’ll be interesting to see just how Rooney copes with Van Gaal’s rather brash approach. Both Ferguson and Moyes have man-managed the England star throughout his career but the new man in charge is hardly renowned for pandering to players’ needs. Van Gaal’s likely decision to opt for Van Persie as skipper would also underline just where Rooney stands in the pecking order, given he was previously expected to be named Moyes’ captain for next season.

Youth may well get a chance under Van Gaal. Whilst Moyes was keen to curtail the game time of Adnan Januzaj in last season’s breakthrough campaign, the Dutchman won’t let age dictate his decisions – as shown in the past, he isn’t swayed by previous reputations. His arrival at Barcelona allowed Xavi and Andres Iniesta their first-team opportunities, whilst at Bayern he gave Thomas Muller his debut and also changed the roles of Bastian Schweinsteiger and David Alaba within the first-team. Whilst there’s perhaps still hope for technically-gifted options such as Shinji Kagawa, a departure for Marouane Fellaini wouldn’t come as a surprise in the squad overhaul and with a number of squad players expected to be shown the door, even Mata – Moyes’ other big-money signing – has been linked with a move to Barcelona as Van Gaal fine-tunes his first-team.

Given last season’s fall from grace under Moyes, Van Gaal is rumoured to have a significant transfer budget at his disposal as United look to restructure. The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Louis Gustavo, Toni Kroos, Schweinsteiger and (the currently-injured) Strootman have been linked in central midfield, Arjen Robben is allegedly on the radar as part of the front three, whilst at the back, with Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both leaving this summer and Patrice Evra’s future uncertain, the rumour mill is rife – Luke Shaw, Ezequiel Garay and the versatile Daley Blind are just some of the names being bandied about. The first-choice full-backs, whether it be Shaw or Evra on the left or Rafael on the right, may well be subject to investment, with plenty of license to attack from deep afforded by Van Gaal’s tactics. At the moment, though, until the 62-year-old makes his first move into the market, it’s all very much conjecture.

What’s certain, though, is that with no European duties to consider, United’s main assets will be targeted by many come the start of the new season. Whilst all of their main title rivals will have busier schedules, thus increasing the likelihood of rest and rotation, Van Gaal will have less interruptions as he looks to continue a record that has seen him win the league with all four of his previous clubs. Moyes’ failings may have given United fans little reason for optimism last term but the knock-on effect may ultimately prove fortuitous from a Fantasy perspective as United look to the Dutchman to give them something to smile about again.