Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
I dont know what the market was like for CBs or anything, I just know that from coaching soccer, when I coached lower-tier teams you had to do your best with what you had, but when I was tasked to coach elite teams I had the luxury of picking players that fit the system and style that I wanted.
That was the impression of LVG that I got, he could do as he pleased and that money was effectively no object.
I wasnt aware that he didnt have any input other than acceptance over Shaw and Herrera, although they and Blind and Rojo arent exactly a bunch of scrubs.
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I get what you're saying. I guess my main point is - why play 3-5-2 if some of your best players have to play out of position in that system? It's madness. You have Angel freaking di Maria at your disposal, plus Rooney, Mata, Herrera, Falcao and van Persie. Let them do what they can do best ... and van Gaal is not doing that right now, and that's what's frustrating the hell out of the fans right now.
The thing is, he actually tried that first lineup that I posted three times this season. They absolutely destroyed QPR (4-0) with it, then lost to Leicester (3-5) thanks to defensive errors and Mark Clattenburg, then beat West Ham (2-1) despite Rooneys stupid red card. It was a fine system, but I guess it clashed with van Gaals possession fetish ... let's face it, Herrera, di Maria and Mata are all very creative players and of course they are not going to have the same passing rate than players who play it safe. But it's not an issue because they create havoc and will score you goals if you give them the freedom to be creative ... but van Gaal seems to have an issue with that, unfortunately.
The stats would also back me up in my case for dropping the 3-5-2:
with 4 at the back: 10 games, 6 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses, 20 goals for, 12 goals against
with 3 at the back: 11 games, 4 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses, 14 goals for, 9 goals against