da winzada777： This time last season, under the much-maligned David Moyes, Manchester United were four points and two places better off in the Premier League – so why isn’t current manager Louis van Gaal surrounded by the same kind of pressure that eventually forced out the Scot after just ten months at Old Trafford?
THE STATS
da betano casino： They say the stats don’t lie, and those published by the Daily Express yesterday afternoon are incredibly revealing. Courtesy of Opta, Moyes was beating the United incumbent on virtually all fronts after his first ten league games at Old Trafford.
Indeed, he recorded five wins compared to van Gaal’s three, despite facing Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in the early part of the season. Moyes’ boys had netted 17 goals at the ten-game mark, one more than van Gaal’s Red Devils, and conceded one less goal than United’s 14 this season.
Their tackle success rate was almost ten per-cent higher at 82%, their shots on target ratio – 48% compared 44% – was also marginally greater and United were yet to see red this time last year. Under van Gaal however, both Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett have already been sent for early baths.
Perhaps most telling of all, Moyes had spent just £27.5million on a single player as Carrington gaffer, Marouane Fellaini. In a single window, his successor’s splashed out over five times that much – including a record-breaking £59million deal for Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria.
This is actually United’s worst start to a domestic campaign since Ron Atkinson’s regime in 1986, with Sir Alex Ferguson arriving as his replacement in early November, so in theory, van Gaal should be under even greater scrutiny than Moyes received last season.
But with the exception of some traditional tabloid scare-mongering, public criticism of the Dutchman is relatively subdued. Some, such as The Independent and The Telegraph, dare to claim van Gaal’s on the periphery of a crisis, but planes with banners over the skies of Old Trafford, or for that matter, the #LVGOUT hash-tag, are yet to appear on the horizon.
CHANGED EXPECTATIONS
Of course, the obvious difference between Moyes and van Gaal’s regimes is the level of expectancy surrounding them. Moyes took over a United outfit that had strolled their way to the Premier League title the year previous; van Gaal, on the other hand, is rescuing a sinking ship that didn’t even qualify for the Europa League last season.
Whereas the Scot was expected to oversee a resolute, earnest title defence – or failing that, retain United’s Champions League status – van Gaal hasn’t even discussed a target league position with chief executive Ed Woodward, according to The Independent.
Likewise, Moyes’ hellish ten months proved that the problems at Old Trafford stem far deeper than simply the man in the dugout. Ferguson’s monolithic stature, knowledge of the club, the Premier League and his world-class expertise were paving over the cracks for years. Fans know that quick fixes won’t return the Red Devils to their former glories, and that’s given van Gaal a lot of room for error.
PHILOSOPHY
There’s a real awareness that United and van Gaal, as a partnership, are still a work in progress. They’ve tested three different formations under the Dutchman, issued Premier League debuts to no less than ten players – including the summer signings – and despite spending £150million during the summer, will clearly be recruiting further in the next two transfer windows.
Shrewdly, van Gaal has communicated this clearly to the fan base. He warned it would take at least three months for his methods to prove fruitful, and the conscious, explicit soundbite of his opening press conference as United boss was simply ‘my philosophy’.
Moyes, on the other hand, was always an appointment of continuity. The superficial similarities between Moyes and Ferguson, in addition to him inheriting a title-winning side, limited the Scot’s scope to instigate wholesale changes in his ten months at Old Trafford.
That in turn created a perception of the 51 year-old as a manager lacking in vision, seemingly too overawed to take the club in his own direction, and eventually made poor results the only difference between his regime and the former.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LIFE AT A BIG CLUB
From the off, Moyes never looked comfortable at United, especially when it came to handling the media. United fans were used to Ferguson berating and banning journalists at will, blaming referees for defeats and producing the odd, sophisticated, sarcastic remark.
Moyes however, always appeared to be coming to terms with the added attention placed on him compared to the humbler, smaller surroundings at Goodison Park. From struggling to quash rumours of Wayne Rooney’s departure to Chelsea in summer 2013 to putting a 3-2 defeat to Stoke City in February down to bad luck, Moyes never replicated the confidence or fearful demeanour of his predecessor. With every wayward result, the Scot appeared more dishevelled, as if he hadn’t slept in months, and increasingly desperate – almost aware of the negative vibes he was giving off.
Compare that to van Gaal whom, even before arriving at Old Trafford, had a reputation as one of the most egotistical and eccentric managers in the business. He’s walked off the Dutch equivalent of Match of the Day, live on air, after discovering his customary punditry slot had been given to someone else, dropped his trousers and undergarments to the entire Bayern Munich dressing room and even benched Brazilian legend Rivaldo just weeks after winning the World Player of the Year award. He’s also referred to several journalists over the years, in addition to Chris Smalling on Sunday afternoon, as ‘stupid’.
They say sport is 90% psychological; whereas van Gaal’s personality and voice tends to fill the room, even in broken English, Moyes often resembled a school teacher conscripted into hosting a PTA meeting. Even in the early stages of his United tenure, it was clear Moyes’ public performances would never fully convince the media or the fan base.
LACK OF ALTERNATIVES
Even if van Gaal is on the verge of a full-blown crisis, he’s insulated by the fact there’s no longer a plan B for United. Rumours of the Dutchman overtaking from Moyes circulated as early as last Christmas, whilst Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte of Juventus were linked strongly too.
Right now however, candidates to potentially succeed van Gaal remain few and far between – Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Conte and Klopp are all settled in their respective jobs – and following £150million of investment during the summer, pulling the plug now could well result in unprecedented catastrophe.
The squad has been forged in the 63 year-old’s image with his philosophy in mind; although another manager coming in is hardly unimaginable amid a Premier League climate where the average tenure is just over one year, it would clearly only set United back even further.
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