Grading Louis van Gaal’s first campaign

As the season ended with a dismal 0-0 draw against Hull City, Manchester United fans can finally rejoice at the fact that the club is back in the UEFA Champions League after a season-long absence.

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With plenty of talking points throughout the season, van Gaal made several headlines for both good and bad reasons as well as making some baffling decisions along the way.

Over the next week, the writers at Red Devil Armada will be grading Louis van Gaal’s debut campaign at the club based on the final finishing position in the league, his tactics throughout the season and the way he handled the media.

Finishing Position (4th) – C

When he took charge of the club last year, Louis van Gaal made it abundantly clear that the main aim of the season was to return to the Champions League. While he’s revealed many times that he intends to win the Premier League before his time at the club comes to an end, the priority this season for him, the players and the fans was to ensure a return to Europe’s elite competition.

After picking up just 10 points from the opening 13 games, United’s hopes looked dead and buried very early on. van Gaal had to deal with a record amount of injuries, players trying to adapt to his new system and late transfers affecting the squad yet he somehow managed to turn it all around with some excellent runs of form during portions of the season and secured Top 4 with two games to spare.

While the club made it more difficult than it should have been considering the form of their opposition during points in the season, some of the performances were very promising and performances during the bigger games saw the Reds end the season with the best head-to-head record between the top six teams.

In domestic competitions it wasn’t so great. Manchester United were knocked out in an embarassing 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in the League Cup all the way back in August. It meant that Louis van Gaal would have even less games to play during the season and it meant that opportunities for the fringe players would be more limited.

In the FA Cup, van Gaal made it clear that he wanted to win the competition. After receiving three favourable draws against League One opposition, United made hard work of all the ties beating Yeovil 2-0 thanks to goals from Ander Herrera and Angel Di Maria, before being taken to a replay against Cambridge United which they eventually won 3-0 at Old Trafford. In the fifth round they faced Preston, who took a 1-0 lead, before eventually coming from behind to win 3-1 at Deepdale.

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After being drawn with in-form Arsenal in the quarter-finals, they played well during the game before individual mistakes allowed Arsenal to progress with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.

Ideally van Gaal would have wanted Top 4 and a trophy but as securing the Top 4 was the main priority from day one, he gets a C in this field for the campaign for achieving the bare minimum.

Tactics – C-

Another interesting battle van Gaal had was with himself in deciding what system was best for the club.

During the pre-season tour he decided upon a 352 system which was successful. With Juan Mata playing behind strikers Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck and three centre-backs playing higher up the pitch and coming out with the ball, van Gaal’s team seemed to dominate games and score goals with relative ease. That changed once the league campaign began however and an opening day defeat to Swansea had some worrying. Followed by draws with Sunderland and Burnley and the defeat to MK Dons, fans began to lose patience with the system.

The following game against QPR saw a much needed improvement with a 4-0 win as van Gaal changed the formation to a 442 diamond. The following game saw the Reds beaten 5-3 by Leicester City but at the time it was seen as a fluke game, with the Reds scoring three fine goals and conceding some poor ones. As United stuck to the diamond however, the goals continued to fly in.

Eventually though, van Gaal settled on his more favoured 433 formation. He finally seemed to find the balance he wanted after fans began to chant ‘4-4-2’ during the win over QPR, where the side played in the 352 system once again. After adopting the 433, van Gaal’s teams began to dominate games. The possession stats were good, there was a cutting edge to the team and they were finding a way to win. In the end it was this decision that got Manchester United a Top 4 spot at the end of the season.

With questionable decisions throughout the campaign, such as playing Wayne Rooney in midfield and not playing Ander Herrera at all made it difficult for some fans to stick by him during the hard times when it was so clear what the problem in the team was. But he listened, adapted and succeeded in the end. A testament to him and a good sign as we head into next season with a clear image of where the team is going.

Media Handling – B+

Credit: @Betfect

Now this would have been an ‘A’ had it not been for the strange outburst following the draw with West Ham about ‘long ball’ claims. After Sam Allardyce labelled Manchester United a ‘long ball side’, van Gaal seemed to get rattled and took offence to the claims, producing a stat-pack to prove his claims incorrect. While it was quite funny at the time, it summed up many fans’ thoughts at the time. van Gaal was letting the pressure get to him and was struggling to cope.

One thing Louis van Gaal did though, was say the right things. One of the major disappointments of David Moyes’ tenure was his lack of positivity during press conferences. He’s infamously said that Manchester United ‘aspire to be like Manchester City’ and admitted that ‘Liverpool are favourites’ ahead of the crunch clash at Old Trafford. Louis van Gaal however, would never dream such a thing.

Constant positivity was the theme generally, while he was honest and consistent with his ramblings. He seemed to have an answer for everything and explained all his decisions, including the omission of Ander Herrera and why Radamel Falcao struggled to get regular game-time.

He’s a born winner and the fans can sense that whenever he speaks. His speech at the Player of the Year awards ceremony showed his charisma too as he endeared himself to the Reds fans all over the world. He knows what he’s doing and he’s happy doing it.

Overall Grade – C+

Overall, it’s been a season that we all expected. Highs, lows and struggles. But most importantly, he got the job done. The club is now in safe hands once again and the opportunities are endless with this man at the helm.

Next: van Gaal slams 'unbelievably stupid' Fellaini