da bet nacional： Step one is complete for Louis Van Gaal. He might have said publically that United could win the title this season, but deep down he’ll have settled simply for restoring Champions League status to one of the world’s biggest clubs.
da bwin： Any period of time is simply too long for Manchester United not to be in the Champions League, but not even being in Europe this season was a strange feeling for Manchester United fans. Many United fans simply weren’t born the last time their club went a whole season without a European match.
But that won’t be the case next season. They’re at least guaranteed a place in the Champions League play-offs, though they might still get knocked out there.
But that looks unlikely to happen. United have improved greatly over the last few months and they’ve adapted to Louis Van Gaal’s system and style of play.
At first they weren’t very good at adapting to his style.
The fact that David De Gea has stood out as United’s best player this season says a lot about their troubles. All season, the defenders have been exposed and United have conceded plenty of shots and iffy situations.Mostly, this is because the team wasn’t used to how the new manager had set them up to attack. Throughout the season, United have given the ball away in areas where they shouldn’t have done. The midfield just wasn’t in the position it should’ve been in to protect the defence. The full backs had bombed on leaving the centre backs exposed – even with three at the back.
United have had bucketloads of possession this season, but once they lose the ball they can be hideously exposed at the back.
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This was at its worst at the start of the season as United were struggling to adapt. They gave away three red cards in a six-game period between September and early November. Since then they’ve not had such a spell.
Of course, red cards aren’t a good barometer of how well you defend or how good the team is. But it does indicate a team struggling to adapt to a new style of play – particularly at the back.
But now they’re past that stage and the defence has tightened up somewhat. There are still defensive problems, but it’s the attack that is worrying United now. And given the attacking talent on show that shouldn’t be the case.
They’ve tightened up at the back, and are clearly vulnerable to the counter attack – as Everton showed in that 3-0 win a couple of weeks ago.
But the more worrying aspect is the lack of goals. They didn’t manage wins against Chelsea, Everton and West Brom even though they should’ve done, and this is down to their inability to break down teams who aren’t afraid to sit deep, defend the high balls to Fellaini and are able to win the knock downs. Although they conceded three against Everton, you get the feeling that had they been scoring, they could’ve scored more than that.
Scoring the first goal is so important for teams who are always on the front foot like United. Breaking teams down is tough, but if you score before they do then they have to come out of their shell and attack. And that’s when you can pick them off.
When United don’t score first, they’ve found it tough to break teams down over the last few games. Van Gaal’s men pass it into positions where they can get a high ball into the box – that’s calculated, passing football incidentally, not ‘long ball’ – but when they can’t get on the end of Fellaini’s knock-downs they’re wasting good attacking positions with their inability to break down a solid defensive unit.
That’s why Memphis Depay is such a good signing. He’s direct, he’ll run at a player and take him on and he’ll shoot from distance. When your defence is faced with that kind of played it’s hard for them to sit deep because they’re always worried that depay can do something or can beat you one v one. It drags players out of their positions, and allows simple balls in behind.
So United have this in their armoury for next season. Depay will give them something new.
And that’s why they can challenge next year. They’ll probably shore up the defence a little bit over the summer. They’ll add someone like Hummels who can marshal the defence properly. And with the riches of attacking talent they already have, United will be a force to be reckoned with next year. Not just because of new signings, but because it’s so clear where the weaknesses are. And that makes it easy to fix.
They’re only a few points behind City and Chelsea, and they’ll fancy their chances of kicking on even further to challenge for the title next season. They’re only a few key players away.
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