Louis van Gaal on his sacking, his legacy and life in retirement

Originally Posted by messhead

No one forgets the performance at Anfield and there are still a few people on here (myself included) who think he was better for the club than Mourinho. Which leads onto your next question quite well I think; Mourinho happened. Now I try and be as balanced as possible and I will maintain that had Mourinho been given backing last summer we'd be in with a shout this season. That said, he has a totally different mindset to LVG, where Van Gaal was obsessed with the minute details and playing a more possession based game, Mourinho is all about closing teams down and in fact I've read that his training focussed more on what was done off the ball than on it. So there's your answer. As others have said, our biggest problem at the club since Fergie left is not identifying and making clear the style of football we want to play; instead Woodward thought he was being smart going for names post-Moyes, when he should have been looking for the right fit. Whether OGS is that remains to be seen but he's certainly saying the right things. Fingers crossed.

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

Originally Posted by Denis Irwell

Nothing to do with “since Fergie left”. Fergie’s last few years were not the football that was formerly his trademark. Also, rather pointless quibbling over who has been the worst/best manager since. All irrelevant. The point is, since the £#%&!ing glazers took over, we’ve had shit football, even from Fergie, as well as “no value “ and “if there is a cow in a field “. The following managers never had a chance. I doubt if Ole will either. Until we get new owners all we have to look forward to is more of the same. We’ll probably sign Batistuta in the summer.

Well it is to do with "since Fergie left" as he was the one getting performances above the level of the players at his disposal. I didn't mention the football in his final years. We needed a clear plan when he left, we didn't have one.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

Agreed. I miss having the ball.

Thanks

Originally Posted by messhead

Well it is to do with "since Fergie left" as he was the one getting performances above the level of the players at his disposal. I didn't mention the football in his final years. We needed a clear plan when he left, we didn't have one.

He was able to get away with it because the rest of the league was ****.

He went through a phase of buying mostly rubbish before (Belliion, Dong, Smith etc) but was forced to get his act together by Chelsea and Arsenal in the mid 2000s

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

He was retiring at the end of his third season, so I’m not sure there was even an option to let him run the show for another few years tbh.

I think the plan was to let Giggs continue with Van gals backroom team so there’d be continuity. But then Woodward and the owners changed their minds and ripped things up and started again, hired a completely different type of manager in Mourinho.

Shame Louie wasn’t 10 years younger when he joined.

Giggs would have been worse than anything we've seen, so we were doomed either way. Should have gone for Pep or Klopp after Fergie like a big club would have done, and we'd have 24 titles by now.

Thanks

Originally Posted by The Return of Tim

Giggs would have been worse than anything we've seen, so we were doomed either way. Should have gone for Pep or Klopp after Fergie like a big club would have done, and we'd have 24 titles by now.

Thanks

Apparently Woodward wanted and met Klopp after we sacked Moyes..

It’s where the “adult Disneyland” comments came from.

Guardiola wouldn’t have come here knowing the massive rebuild that was needed IMO.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

You talk as if woodward actually wanted to sack him. He didn’t. There was a players’ revolt because they thought van gaal was a fraud and Woodward was forced into it, particularly when his mate mendes was pushing mourinho upon him at the same time.

Woodward worshipped van gaal.

Originally Posted by AK14

Apparently Woodward wanted and met Klopp after we sacked Moyes..

It’s where the “adult Disneyland” comments came from.

Guardiola wouldn’t have come here knowing the massive rebuild that was needed IMO.

Would love to know how that interview went. Bet Ed didn't mention football once.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

it was horrific. it got to the point of being a joke where we'd have 90% possession then lose 1-0 with their only attack.

..

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

I fell asleep at about pass 37

Originally Posted by messhead

Well it is to do with "since Fergie left" as he was the one getting performances above the level of the players at his disposal. I didn't mention the football in his final years. We needed a clear plan when he left, we didn't have one.

But for how much longer?

With Rio, Vidic, Evra, Scholes, Giggs etc all on the way out. Who was Woody going to replace them with whether Fergie was there or not.

The rot had already started before he left with the robotic, dull play we were being served up, even though we still managed a title or two. Even Fergie wasn’t going to maintain his past results without a major overhaul.... and he wasn’t going to get a major overhaul as we’d seen with the arrival of Valencia, Owen, Buttner etc.

But yes, we did need a clear plan when he left and didn’t have one.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened.

Come on now. Watching United became the most joyless part of the week, and that includes getting up Monday morning to go to work. Many would have binned it off completely before two more years of that were up.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

Cracking return for two seasons

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

If I’m being honest he’s the only Utd manager since Fergie that I could see a clear structure to what we were doing
Even when it didn’t work which was often you could see how we wanted to play
For example off the ball we only ever had about 20 yards between our centre forward and central defender so it compacted space between the lines allowed us to swarm around the opposition and win the ball

A combination of LvG making big mistakes and the club not having a sporting director with the same vision to get him the players he needed made it a failed project
How are you meant to create a possession based side with Smalling and Jones at the back

Originally Posted by ZiggyStardust

If I’m being honest he’s the only Utd manager since Fergie that I could see a clear structure to what we were doing
Even when it didn’t work which was often you could see how we wanted to play
For example off the ball we only ever had about 20 yards between our centre forward and central defender so it compacted space between the lines allowed us to swarm around the opposition and win the ball

A combination of LvG making big mistakes and the club not having a sporting director with the same vision to get him the players he needed made it a failed project
How are you meant to create a possession based side with Smalling and Jones at the back

This. It’s all very well people blaming the forwards (and they deserve all the stick they get) but it’s a universally accepted principle in football that a solid defence spreads confidence throughout the team. How the £#%&! are the rest of them supposed to have the confidence to take risks with that pair of useless @#%&!s behind them, blundering around?

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

He was too old for a ‘few more years’.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

We glimpsed what we could have been under Van Gaal.. That goal we scored away at southampton where we had 45 passes and the performance at Anfield stick out.

We should have let him just run the show for a few more years, see what happened. £#%&!.

Hindsight is always 20/20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAzg8cLRC0

Unfortunately LvG allowed his perception to be misrepresented. He believed in himself so much that he didn't stand up to the criticism well. He allowed the fans to believe he was an enemy of the club. When Scholes spent every week painting him as such he would just say that he could not challenge someone like Scholes. He thought the club would back him and he'd prove everyone wrong in the end.

Originally Posted by Jammy Dodger

You talk as if woodward actually wanted to sack him. He didn’t. There was a players’ revolt because they thought van gaal was a fraud and Woodward was forced into it, particularly when his mate mendes was pushing mourinho upon him at the same time.

Woodward worshipped van gaal.

I suspect not a single player thought he was a fraud. Instead of inventing stuff you should try reading some of the things Carrick and Rooney have said about him. It's much more enlightening. Both seem to have great respect for his coaching qualities - as any player would - but they suggest a culture clash.

What's frustrating is that when the culture clash is felt more with the senior players, it's easier to take a long term view.

But we didn't have the nerve for that.