Louis van Gaal's philosophy at Manchester United finally beginning to manifest on the pitch

Lois van Gaal’s tactics seem to be paying off

Louis van Gaal has talked about this philosophy of his ever since he has joined Manchester United. He has mentioned it in almost all his press conferences and has recently combined it with another terminology of his named “process”. What LVG meant by ‘philosophy’ and ‘process’ has finally been understood and exactly how the United fans wanted- on the field rather than off it.

Van Gaal stressed the need for fast and pacey players throughout the recently concluded transfer window. He wanted two types of players, a player who could make a killer pass and a player who could pounce on that pass.

Van Gaal has successfully identified ideal players for his system

He bought Memphis Depay- a player with deadly pace, who scored over 20 goals from the wings last season at PSV, and Anthony Martial – a player remarkably similar to the legendary Thierry Henry. He plays Juan Mata on the right wing; where he drifts in the center with great efficiency to create chances or pops up in the box to score goals. Mata, who wasn’t a guaranteed starter not long ago owing to the presence of so many attacking players last season, probably was United’s most important player last season.

Van Gaal has bought quality midfielders who can effectively control the midfield, an aspect of the United squad seen for the first time in years. Bastian Schweinsteiger was brought in for his valuable experience and leadership and has been dictating games whenever he’s on the pitch.

Michael Carrick remains as influential as ever and Morgan Schneiderlin is a solid if not spectacular defensive midfielder. Ander Herrera’s energy in midfield is also hard to ignore, as was seen last season when he became a mainstay of the squad in the second half of 2014/15 season.

Chris Smalling has excelled under LVG’s defensive set-up and Daley Blind hasn’t done much wrong either partnering him. Matteo Darmian looks to be a rock-solid signing and David de Gea is excellent as ever.

The Manchester United squad seem to have taken to Van Gaal’s philosophy quite well

Understanding Van Gaal’s tactics

From whatever the term ‘team setup’ is, I understand that LVG wants to maintain a high line and want his players to press for the ball. When the ball is with the team, he wants the team to maintain possession and patiently look for an opening. When the opening is there, a pass is made and the shot is taken. The formula being- press, frustrate, look for the opening, and score.

The statistics seem to back up my observation. United have had the lion’s share of possession in almost all games this season, and the shot conversion rate has been very high compared to previous seasons. Additionally United have conceded the second least amount of goals this season and the defence after a long time isn’t much of a worry.

The only concern right now seems to be the form of Wayne Rooney. Personally it seems to me that United would have an even better season if the skipper is replaced by someone like Ander Herrera in the hole behind the striker. Rooney’s cross-field diagonal passes would be missed, but now that United have enough quality in the likes of Schweinsteiger, Carrick and Mata, it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem.

It increasingly seems Rooney’s contribution to Man Utd, which was helping out all departments on the field, is becoming less valuable because of the quality added in other departments. If Rooney doesn’t find his scoring boots soon, his starting place will surely be in danger if it already isn’t. A fate similar to a certain Robin van Persie.

The goals have been there for United this season, and the dominance too. The flamboyance of the yesteryears United squads isn’t quite there yet, and it is probably a bit too much to ask for in the current system. United’s style of football has definitely changed, and the fans are finally moving on from the SAF era. United are top of the league going into the 8th week, and will definitely compete for domestic glory this season. Success in Europe still looks a fair distance away, but the fans will be brimming with hope seeing the gradual improvement in their team. The future looks bright for the reds under the guidance of Louis van Gaal, and hopefully Ryan Giggs next.