Louis Van Gaal’s much anticipated first English Premier League match as the manager of the world’s most popular football club, Manchester United turned out to be a damp squib as his side were beaten 2-1 at home by one of the smallest clubs in the league, Swansea, led by perhaps the most inexperienced manager in the country, Garry Monk. Those hoping for an immediate revival at the famous Manchester club would be disappointed and although it’s far too early yet to pass judgment on Van Gaal as a manager, it is clear that the much heralded Dutch manager would be hoping for a lot more.
Van Gaal was handicapped by the loss of a couple of his best defenders, and more importantly, because of the unavailability of his fellow countryman and No. 1 striker, Robin Van Persie. Van Persie’s replacement, Javier Hernandez of Mexico, was nowhere in the same class and was largely ineffective before being replaced at half time.
Van Gaal started with the 3-4-1-3 formation with 2 wing-backs, which has worked so well for his Dutch national side, which he led to the third place in the World Cup in Brazil, but here, using the same formation with Manchester United didn’t seem to be an ideal solution, at least in this match, as neither were Van Gaal’s team penetrative in attack, nor were they solid in defence.
[one_third last=”no”][content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” backgroundcolor=”#cdefc4″] [content_box title=”” icon=”play” image=”https://www.indiabet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/bet365.png” image_width=”100″ image_height=”40″]
Deposit Match
Read Review[/content_box] [/content_boxes][/one_third]
[one_third last=”no”][content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” backgroundcolor=”#cdefc4″] [content_box title=”” icon=”play” image=”https://www.indiabet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/rajah-bet.png” image_width=”100″ image_height=”40″]
Deposit Match
Read Review[/content_box] [/content_boxes][/one_third]
[one_third last=”yes”][content_boxes layout=”icon-with-title” iconcolor=”” circlecolor=”” circlebordercolor=”” backgroundcolor=”#cdefc4″] [content_box title=”” icon=”play” image=”https://www.indiabet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/888sport.png” image_width=”100″ image_height=”40″]
Deposit Matches
Read Review[/content_box] [/content_boxes][/one_third]
Man Utd’s defensive frailties were exposed early enough, when in the 28th minute, Swansea’s South Korean star, Sung-Yeung Kim, placed the ball perfectly into the left of goalkeeper David De Gea, from just inside the box. The Old Trafford faithful, who had come to the first match, expected a rash of goals from the home team were stunned, to say the least. Wayne Rooney, who had been largely silent throughout the match, did get one back for his side, equalizing in the 53rd minute, which brought a lot of cheer at the famous stadium.
But the joy was short lived as Swansea’s latest signing, midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson from Iceland, opportunistically took full advantage of the ball falling right at his feet just inside the Man United box, smashing it into the net, making it 2-1 for Swansea in the 73rd minute. Suddenly, there was silence all over Old Trafford. There wasn’t much that happened after that, as Manchester United succumbed to another home defeat, which has become such a routine affair since last season under David Moyes.
Van Gaal said in his post-match interview that people should wait for the end of the season before making a judgment: “It is not good because we have built up a lot of confidence and it shall be smashed down because of this result. But we have to know it is only one game of many games and you shall not be the champion at this moment, you shall be the champion in May.”
Van Gaal admitted that expectations were sky high because of the great pre-season performance by the club on the US tour, and expressed his disappointment at the defeat:
“I have said before that because of our wins in the United States and against Valencia the expectation is so high, and I have seen in the first half a lot of players very nervous, making the wrong choices, and that is a pity. These players have to get used to that expectation because this is Manchester United. You have to cope with that pressure. I have said to them in the dressing room: ‘I cannot say you didn’t do your very best, unbelievable work, fantastic mentality, but reaching the level is difficult, not only running but using your brain and then you can play like a team.’ In that, we have failed today.”
The Old Trafford faithful still have memories of their dominant multiple Championships winning side steamrolling the opposition when Alex Ferguson ruled the English Premier League for over two decades, and expected quite the same from Louis Van Gaal, but it wasn’t to be so as yet. Already there were mischievous tweets on Twitter hailing “Louis Van Moyes”, a reference to the disastrous reign of David Moyes last season, when he brought the club down from its exalted position, and made defeats such as the one seen last night a routine affair. But not too much should be read into just one defeat, and it is hoped that Manchester United fans show a little more patience with their latest replacement to Sir Alex Ferguson.
