Teddy Sheringham: ‘Louis van Gaal’s tactics at United not suiting Wayne Rooney’

Of course, this time last season, United fans were anxious the opposition would score with pretty much any attack they had and were concerned that fourth place might be out of reach.

Perhaps Van Gaal frustrates so many because they know the quality of football his team is capable of playing.

“So they’ve been very good as a club in academy terms of sticking with those late developers and I still think there’s more to come”. The chance to play for a club like Manchester United do not come around too often, especially when you are only 22 and still learning the game.

Manchester United’s English midfielder Jesse Lingard (R) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Manchester United’s Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and West Bromwich Albion’s Gareth McAuley (left) battle for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. I believe the 20 minute Arsenal demolition made Van Gaal withdraw tactically and made him decide United should build from the back first and look for flair later.

It was from the balcony of the one in Munich that Louis van Gaal, dressed in lederhosen, paraded the Bundesliga shield in 2010 in front of tens of thousands of Bayern supporters thronging the city’s central square, the Marienplatz. In José Mourinho’s first spell in England, Chelsea conceded just 61 goals over three seasons.

The Spanish goalkeeper, who almost left the club himself for Real Madrid on deadline day, only for the deal to fall through in dramatic circumstances, has been a starter ever since and is yet again proving his importance to the team with a few standout performances. You have a top-quality player there, so you would like to think there is a way of finding a system that will suit him. Van Gaal’s other main approach to dealing with a small squad is to insist on his players having a degree of positional flexibility.

“Football is not only about attack”.

Fortunately for those of us who enjoyed that particular farce, there could be a sequel in the offing, with Real reportedly preparing a huge bid for the end of the season. An addition here could change the face of United’s season quickly, since we have already seen how effective Mata can be with pace and movement from players ahead of him.

Oh to be a fly on the wall in Van Gaal’s office…