They say that great football teams are forged in red-hot hearths where the raging fires of self doubt, poor form, low confidence and lack of discipline reign supreme. It is only when teams come through these challenges that they can fuse talent and ability with selflessness and teamwork to create an atmosphere of professional excellence. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes you also need dollops of luck and oodles of patience. As Manchester United gear up for their toughest run of matches yet this season, one in which the struggle has already been long and arduous, it is fair to say that a new hardened core seems to have emerged from the furnace – whether they can rise up from here to be a truly great team only time will tell.
The legacy of the Alex Ferguson-era was a tough one to hold on to, let alone emulate. As the fabled Class of 92 retired one by one and the entire team started getting older, United took their own sweet time in realising that the superstructure was creaking noisily. And when Sir Alex handed over the reins to David Moyes last season, the wheels came off dramatically. Fans who had never seen United suffer such humiliation in their living memory suddenly had to get used to the fact that their special team was Champion no more – far from it in fact.
A fighting outfit
When Louis Van Gaal came, he inherited a team in complete shambles – low on confidence and battered beyond belief. And to give him and his team due credit, he did not attempt a quick fix. There was pressure from the owners and the fans to drop off deadwood and bring in big names – but LVG showed prudence as he set about re-designing the nucleus of Team United. The current season actually presented a strange dilemma for LVG. United had not qualified for the UEFA Champions League and hence the opportunity for top flight football was severely limited. Big names bandied around by the media developed cold feet and Angel Di Maria was the only really big signing LVG could muster along with the loan signing of Radamel Falcao. But along with that, he brought in the likes of Marcus Rojo, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw and let go of Ferdinand, Vidic, Cleverly, Nani and Evra – either on loan or permanent transfers. Tactically astute, he also kept Ryan Giggs in his managerial team to ensure that the process of transition did not alienate the remaining players and prevent them from expressing their best on the field of play. And that has been LVG’s biggest area of operation – this hardnosed insistence of playing and improving as a team and to metamorphose isolated individual displays of talent into a seamless match-winning structure.
Make no mistake. There have been harsh stumbles along the way. The revolutionary 3 back system was very porous to start with as United leaked goals left and right but the Manager showed enough flexibility to shift and change often midway through a match to bring in the levels of consistency which he has always stood for himself. In a season spanning almost 40 weeks, there have been insipid displays, lack of creativity and imagination in attack and inexplicable defeats against poor quality opposition. Rooney moved into a new position in midfield and lost his mojo, Mata did not get too many chances to play and the defence without Smalling and Evans still looked creaky when put under sustained pressure.
But very slowly, LVG has got the team to gel into a fighting outfit. A lot of people thought that for players like Mata, Young and Fellaini it was game over in LVG’s new era – but again to his credit, Van Gaal has incorporated them within his team framework only on the basis of ability and form. Youngsters like Tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair and James Wilson have been blooded in top flight football while the Dutchman showed his nous by bringing in Victor Valdes as a smart cover when De Gea’s goalkeeping prowess brought the big fish like Madrid sniffing around Old Trafford.
Looking to the future
In Moyes’ reign, the impregnable fortress of Old Trafford looked like it had been hit by a tsunami of devastating proportions. Under LVG, United this season has lost only twice at home in the League till now – a heartening first step in the long climb to the top. You could be critical about the contributions of Falcao and Di Maria specially given their price tags but LVG has always maintained that it does take a couple of seasons to get used to the English style of play. And the way Young and Blind have revolutionised the entire left channel in the last few games, running defenders to the ground ably supported by Herrera and Mata, the team is now bristling with a typical United confidence which only augurs well for the future.
For it is the future that LVG is looking at. Irrespective of the remaining matches in this season and the upcoming derby against City with all its hoo-ha, the first task is to ensure a top 4 spot so that United take their place in Europe once again next season. And a few tactical buys in the summer will do no harm – shore up the defence (much needed!), get in some creative midfielders who can score (remember CR7!) and keep the core nucleus happy and raring to go.
And if you are a United fan, stop dreaming about the titles and the glory of the past 20 years. This is a new era, a new team and above all, a new dream being crafted by a canny Dutchman. Stand by him and he will lead you to greatness – sooner rather than later.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!
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The legacy of the Alex Ferguson-era was a tough one to hold on to, let alone emulate. As the fabled Class of 92 retired one by one and the entire team started getting older, United took their own sweet time in realising that the superstructure was creaking noisily. And when Sir Alex handed over the reins to David Moyes last season, the wheels came off dramatically. Fans who had never seen United suffer such humiliation in their living memory suddenly had to get used to the fact that their special team was Champion no more – far from it in fact.
A fighting outfit
When Louis Van Gaal came, he inherited a team in complete shambles – low on confidence and battered beyond belief. And to give him and his team due credit, he did not attempt a quick fix. There was pressure from the owners and the fans to drop off deadwood and bring in big names – but LVG showed prudence as he set about re-designing the nucleus of Team United. The current season actually presented a strange dilemma for LVG. United had not qualified for the UEFA Champions League and hence the opportunity for top flight football was severely limited. Big names bandied around by the media developed cold feet and Angel Di Maria was the only really big signing LVG could muster along with the loan signing of Radamel Falcao. But along with that, he brought in the likes of Marcus Rojo, Daley Blind and Luke Shaw and let go of Ferdinand, Vidic, Cleverly, Nani and Evra – either on loan or permanent transfers. Tactically astute, he also kept Ryan Giggs in his managerial team to ensure that the process of transition did not alienate the remaining players and prevent them from expressing their best on the field of play. And that has been LVG’s biggest area of operation – this hardnosed insistence of playing and improving as a team and to metamorphose isolated individual displays of talent into a seamless match-winning structure.
Make no mistake. There have been harsh stumbles along the way. The revolutionary 3 back system was very porous to start with as United leaked goals left and right but the Manager showed enough flexibility to shift and change often midway through a match to bring in the levels of consistency which he has always stood for himself. In a season spanning almost 40 weeks, there have been insipid displays, lack of creativity and imagination in attack and inexplicable defeats against poor quality opposition. Rooney moved into a new position in midfield and lost his mojo, Mata did not get too many chances to play and the defence without Smalling and Evans still looked creaky when put under sustained pressure.
But very slowly, LVG has got the team to gel into a fighting outfit. A lot of people thought that for players like Mata, Young and Fellaini it was game over in LVG’s new era – but again to his credit, Van Gaal has incorporated them within his team framework only on the basis of ability and form. Youngsters like Tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair and James Wilson have been blooded in top flight football while the Dutchman showed his nous by bringing in Victor Valdes as a smart cover when De Gea’s goalkeeping prowess brought the big fish like Madrid sniffing around Old Trafford.
Looking to the future
In Moyes’ reign, the impregnable fortress of Old Trafford looked like it had been hit by a tsunami of devastating proportions. Under LVG, United this season has lost only twice at home in the League till now – a heartening first step in the long climb to the top. You could be critical about the contributions of Falcao and Di Maria specially given their price tags but LVG has always maintained that it does take a couple of seasons to get used to the English style of play. And the way Young and Blind have revolutionised the entire left channel in the last few games, running defenders to the ground ably supported by Herrera and Mata, the team is now bristling with a typical United confidence which only augurs well for the future.
For it is the future that LVG is looking at. Irrespective of the remaining matches in this season and the upcoming derby against City with all its hoo-ha, the first task is to ensure a top 4 spot so that United take their place in Europe once again next season. And a few tactical buys in the summer will do no harm – shore up the defence (much needed!), get in some creative midfielders who can score (remember CR7!) and keep the core nucleus happy and raring to go.
And if you are a United fan, stop dreaming about the titles and the glory of the past 20 years. This is a new era, a new team and above all, a new dream being crafted by a canny Dutchman. Stand by him and he will lead you to greatness – sooner rather than later.
Rathindra Basu lives, breathes, sleeps sports and is forever waiting for the next Indian sporting triumph. Since this usually takes much time and infinite patience he also listens to music, reads voraciously and eats almost anything that moves!
