No audience with Louis van Gaal is complete without a mention of the Dutchman’s ‘philosophy’. He talked about it on his first day at Old Trafford and was still talking about it in the build-up to Manchester United’s win over Liverpool on Sunday.
‘It takes time,’ he said. ‘In Germany (at Bayern Munich), it took until December. And now (with United) until March.’
There were signs all over the pitch at Anfield that his players are finally getting the message. It was without doubt their best performance under Van Gaal: ‘one of the most important moments in my career,’ he later acknowledged.
The 63-year-old is ruthless in his pursuit of what he wants. No-one is exempt, and it was significant that Juan Mata and Ander Herrera, two of United’s best performers in the 2-1 win over their bitter rivals, have been made to sit on the sidelines for lengthy spells this season.
Two-goal hero Mata only returned against Tottenham in the previous game after a two-month absence from Van Gaal’s starting line-up in the Premier League.
His position at Anfield, described by Van Gaal as a ‘false right winger’, demonstrated once again how the manager places his team’s needs above an individual’s preference.
And Herrera spoke candidly yesterday about how upsetting Van Gaal contributed to him making just six league starts in his first six months at Old Trafford following a £29million move from Bilbao.
‘I keep my distance with Van Gaal, but he’s a good guy with a strong character,’ said Herrera, who was not seen for more than a month after being hooked at half-time against West Brom in October.
‘He likes discipline and does not believe in egos in the dressing room. Everybody is equal under his rule. He talks about what he wants from me. At the start he used to tell me off because I always looked for the ball. I always wanted to have it, and no, I must wait.
‘He loves possession and he doesn’t like being at risk of losing the ball. He wants long stretches of possession. He believes spaces are created that way because the team has the quality to find them.’
There have been many times in Van Gaal’s first season in England when his philosophy has not been altogether clear; when the constant chopping and changing of formation and shuffling of a rather expensive pack of players has left fans scratching their heads.
Nor are United close to being the finished article. An eight-point deficit on Chelsea is evidence of that, and they are still far from certain to achieve their target of Champions League qualification despite Sunday’s win opening up a five-point advantage over Liverpool.
But something seems to have clicked in the wins against Spurs and Liverpool, just when the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal looked to have raised major concerns over the club’s direction under Van Gaal.
Players who privately have questioned his methods look more comfortable, although Liverpool’s alarmingly lacklustre display at Anfield helped in that respect.
Michael Carrick’s return to anchor the midfield has been an important factor, so too Marouane Fellaini’s advanced role, which has given United’s attack a new dimension.
Even Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, United’s much-maligned England centre backs, look solid after being thrown back together by Marcos Rojo’s groin injury and Jonny Evans’s ban for spitting at Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse.
Surprisingly, Jones and Smalling have only started as a central defensive pairing on five occasions in the league, not including four games together as part of Van Gaal’s unpopular back three.
And Jones admitted that the expectations raised by succeeding Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have not made it easy for them.
‘It has been difficult,’ he said. ‘It was well documented that me and Chris were going to be the next centre backs at United but it has not gone how we would have liked.
‘You cannot build a partnership on four games. Hopefully now we have had back-to-back games together we can keep it going. We complement each other well.’
It was also notable that United’s best 45 minutes of the season, according to Van Gaal, came with Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao on the bench. Both came on to play their part in the victory and it was a reminder of the resources at his disposal, as well as the issues that still need to be ironed out in the remaining months of the season.
‘Those boys are top players but we have a number of players who the manager can choose from, which is great,’ said Carrick.
‘Different games throw up different scenarios and different systems maybe, but the last two games have gone very well for us.’
There is still room for improvement, but it appears Van Gaal’s philosophy is beginning to sink in.– Daily Mail