So, after $375 million in transfers, two seasons of often mind-numbing football, one trophy and countless references to his “process” and “philosophy,” louis van Gaal is no longer manager of Manchester United.
So how will Van Gaal be rememberedIJ Here’s a look at Van Gaal’s legacy at United:
WHAT A WASTE
Van Gaal will forever be known as the man who oversaw an outlay of $375 million on new signings over two seasons without ostensibly improving his squad.
Expensive signings like Angel Di Maria ($99 million), Memphis Depay ($48 million), Morgan Schneiderlin ($39 million) and Bastian Schweinsteiger ($23 million) have disappointed or failed to adapt to Van Gaal’s rigid system. Di Maria is a genuine world-class player who was a star at Real Madrid and has gone on to be a key player at Paris Saint-Germain. How he was wasted by Van Gaal.
Despite Van Gaal’s heavy spending, he managed to leave himself an unbalanced squad lacking in strikers and creative attacking midfielders. Daley Blind has played as an emergency center back for most the season and he cannot settle on regular fullbacks.
DUll FOOTBAll
United’s end-of-season scoring stats make grim reading for Van Gaal. The 49 goals netted in the league is United’s lowest return in Premier league history, and never previously has the team failed to score in 10 games in one campaign.
Meanwhile, United went into halftime drawing 0-0 in 24 of its games this season. And its players played more backward passes than any other team in the Premier league.
TACTICS
Some would say his tactics were a demonstration of “total football” long favored by the Dutch. Many more likely would say they were the result of muddled thinking. What proved to be his last match — the FA Cup final — provides an example. Ashley Young, a wide midfielder, came on as a second-half substitute and played as a lone striker. By the end of the match, Young was playing at left back and United also had a center forward in deep midfield (Wayne Rooney).
In one of United’s most significant matches this season, against Wolfsburg in UCl in December, Van Gaal ended the game with two young full backs (Varela and Borthwick-Jackson) and a 21-year-old Nick Powell whose last match for United came 18 months previously in the league Cup. United lost 3-2 and was eliminated. Van Gaal mostly played playmaker Juan Mata out wide, and often played two holding midfielders in home games.
YOUTH POlICY
Van Gaal’s one saving grace has been his adherence to United’s traditions of bringing academy graduates into the first team.
Some of them might have been forced on him because of injuries — striker Marcus Rashford springs to mind — but he hasn’t been afraid to use young players and decided against more splurges in the transfer market in the January windows. The club’s pathway for youth remains open, and youngsters coming through will see how the likes of Rashford, Jesse lingard, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Timothy Fosu-Mensah have established themselves as regular squad members.