It looks certain that Manchester United are going to turn to experienced manager Louis van Gaal and have him take over the reigns at Old Trafford. The legendary Dutch coach has had a fantastic career winning titles in Holland, Germany and Spain as well as a Champions League triumph back in 1996.

So it will be all good now for the ‘Red Devils’?

Well not necessarily. Lets look at the ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ in appointing Van Gaal.

THE PROS

Well as I have already suggested, he is a winner. Louis has won seven league titles and twelve cup competitions in his twenty-three years as a manager. He has that desire to succeed as all great managers do.

The sixty-two year old has also developed great squads and foundations for the entire club. Look at the successes he had with Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Then think about all the success they had after he left too, especially in developing superb talent from their own youth sides and the excellent scouting systems. A lot of that is down to Van Gaal and his way of thinking. Man Utd could probably do with a new man changing parts of their infrastructure.

For United it could be essential they get a coach that shakes the club from top to bottom and makes sure that they get the best from their young players. Louis van Gaal isn’t scared in welcoming youthful players into his sides. In fact he thrives on it, he gets them to react to his ways quicker than old pros that may be stuck in their ways.

His relationship with Robin van Persie could be vital in getting the Dutch striker firing on all cylinders again. Plus the coach would come in with a huge name. As Man United haven’t managed to secure European football next term, it could prove difficult to secure the best signings possible. But if they appoint Van Gaal then they’ll have a world renowned manager that could recruit top class players with his and the clubs reputation.

Van Gaal likes to see his team playing on the front foot and adopting an attacking style. That would certainly impress the Man Utd faithful if he can get results while playing attractive football especially after the dire football they saw under David Moyes tenure.

THE CONS

As I previously mentioned Louis van Gaal likes to shake things up a bit and getting his players to learn from him. But at United they have older pros who will probably need to be convinced by the Dutchman. Now the problem is, Van Gaal doesn’t do convincing. He wants the players on his wavelength right away, if they don’t like it then they can leave. That might be a bitter pill to swallow for players like Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Marouane Fellaini and Johnny Evans who may struggle to adapt.

Like most successful Dutch coaches Van Gaal is a perfectionist and a bit of a disciplinarian. Again that may cause frictions for this particular Manchester United squad. His perceived friendship with Van Persie may cause resentment with the rest of the side.

Louis also has a habit of falling out with owners, chairmen and the press. He left the Camp Nou and Allianz Arena under dark clouds and his relationship with fellow Dutch great Johan Cruyff is frosty to say the least. It will be interesting to see how he gets on with Sir Alex Ferguson. although I doubt Fergie will get too involved at this stage of his retirement.

Van Gaal can get very paranoid if things start to go wrong and if the press decide to take a dislike to him. That can be great for the British footballing public. But Manchester United are now a huge worldwide company, they wouldn’t take too kindly to seeing an ill-tempered boss coming in and tarnishing that global brand.

CONCLUSION

Well for me, I’d say Louis van Gaal would be a fine short-term fix for Man United. He could come in and help turn things back around and see the team challenge at the top of the table again next season. I think its imperative for the United hierarchy to keep the fans happy and have the Dutch coach work with Ryan Giggs as his assistant. That would keep with the clubs tradition and Giggs could then benefit from the experience and takeover once Van Gaal leaves.

Will every player remain happy at Old Trafford? No of course not. No squad has a a pool of players, who remain happy all of the time. Obviously a lot has been made about Wayne Rooney disliking Van Gaal before the appointment has even been made. But really after two transfer requests, would any fan of the Manchester club really back up Rooney? I’d be surprised.

I don’t doubt that Van Gaal will snap at his players, the press and possibly the Glazers (Man Utd owners) but I would imagine that will happen after he has installed a winning belief back into the ‘Red Devils’.

I will give him three or four years max.

Posted on May 5th, 2014 by scott
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