Lowest Point Of The Season

Manchester United are out of the Champions League. It made for headline sporting news the world over especially if you are in this part of the world. Anti-United fans come out to troll and ridicule United on social media, they rejoiced as if their team had won something. United fans went into meltdown on social media. It just went crazy. It's justified for United fans to feel upset, disappointed, angry, embarrassed and discontented. For anti-United fans regaling at our elimination, it depends at how you take it. If you take it with a pinch of salt, it becomes banter and it is funny. If you take it personally, it is no longer funny. As a fan, I do get delighted at hearing of a Liverpool and/or Manchester City defeat or of their struggles but I don' gloat about it. I don't gloat over a single United victory or a sequence of United victories. I have been following football long enough to know that it is unpredictable. One day you could be on a high, touching the skies and in the heavens above and the next day, you could be on the down low, underground in the pits of hell. That's what football is capable of making you experience thus it is vital to be balanced. In a season, what matters the most is winning a trophy at the end of the season. The bigger the title of the trophy won or the number of trophies won in a season, the grander the celebrations. It is only really right to rejoice and touch the skies when your team has won a trophy not after winning a match.

Over the past 2 decades, United fans have become accustomed to winning and challenging for the major trophies like the English Premier League and the Champions League. Most fans wouldn't remember that United were FA Cup specialists in the 1980s. I wouldn't remember too because I was only born in 1984 and began supporting in 1991. I remember it from watching old FA Cup finals and delving into the history of the club. Back to 2015 and United are out of the Champions League but not completely out of European football yet. They have been demoted to the second tier of European football which is the Europa League. It is not unchartered territory for the club. United finished bottom of their group in 2005-06 and like this season were demoted to the Europa League in 2011-12. It has happened before under Sir Alex Ferguson and it has happened again under Louis Van Gaal. In terms of progress, Van Gaal is right to state that United have at least qualified for the Champions League group stages after a season without European football, United sit fourth this season within touching distance of the league leaders unlike last season where they were off the pace at this stage of the season and they progressed a round further in the Capital One Cup. Fair points brought up by Van Gaal. However, at United, you are always expected to win trophies, to last the title race in the league and go to the final of the domestic cups. You are always expected to go deep in the Champions League. You are expected to win it. Realistically though, United do not have the squad to compete with the current European powerhouses but teams with lesser squads have won the Champions League before so it is an achievable feat. After all, football is won on the pitch and not on paper.

It is a definite low point this season for United, the lowest point of the current season. United couldn't beat Wolfsburg and they were not lucky enough to get a result in their favour in the PSV Eindhoven-CSKA Moscow match. However, United need to make their own luck. They haven't deserved qualification at all. In away matches against PSV Eindhoven and Wolfsburg, United gave up their leads too soon after taking it and in both matches, United were undone by poor marking on set pieces and were hit on the counter attack. In the case of Wolfsburg, United were too flat footed in defence as well when facing a quick one-two by the Germans. The same thing happened in the home leg against Wolfsburg. In the other away match against CSKA Moscow, United didn't push hard enough and do more to win it. They came back with a draw that was deemed as a good result by Van Gaal but at United, you should be aiming to win every match! In the home matches, United rallied to go from one goal down to overturn the result against Wolfsburg and survived a second half onslaught, they made heavy weather of beating CSKA Moscow and only secured a late win and finally against PSV, they couldn't create enough chances to win it and couldn't score with whatever they created. It's been an average, below-par campaign. With all due respect to the teams in the group, United could and should have been able to qualify earlier and didn't need to leave it to the last game to secure qualification. If only they had not taken such a calculative approach to matches and done more to win matches.....Ifs and buts are all we are left with now.

The anger, disappointment, exasperation and despair of United fans is understandable. However, it has all been directed at the manager for the way he is getting United to play. Fans are growing tired and annoyed at the manager mentioning his philosophy again and again. First, to give the manager credit, he deserves it for shoring up the defence. Cast your mind back to the early parts of last season and you should recall a porous defence that was always chopping and changing due to injury. Since then, Van Gaal deserves credit for slowly but surely creating a solid defensive unit that starts from the 2 holding midfielders he employs. United are defending much better in an organised manner. The blitz from Arsenal in the Premier League was a blip while in Europe, United have not been able to cope with counter-attacks and quick play around the box. There is still scope for improvement but Van Gaal deserves credit for the work he has done on the defence and no team can win anything without a solid defence. It is the attacking play that has been less than exciting and un-United like. Fans keep saying the team is not playing the United way. The statistics show that United have the most amount of possession in the Premier League but don't create as many chances and play the ball forward enough. What we have seen is a style of play that is measured, slowly waiting for the opponents to come out of position so that United can find some space to attack. Most teams that come to United would play with most of their men behind the ball. They would make it difficult for United to break them down but United has to find a solution around it. Playing the ball around slowly, keeping possession far from the opponents penalty box will not create any chances or danger. Having witnessed Van Gaal's Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, I can't understand why he would use this approach for United. The above-mentioned teams played quick attacking football. They could keep possession for hours too but played at a faster pace than United.

Van Gaal's Holland played a counter-attacking style due to a perceived lack of quality available to the Dutch national team. It was a practical approach used to exploit the Dutch team's strength which were Arjen Robben's pace on the break as well as Robin Van Persie's finishing. Memphis Depay came to the fore in the 2014 World Cup and contributed to this style. In United's early days under Van Gaal, United had produced some very good attacking football but all that disappeared when he shifted focus to bring more balance and tighten the defence. It is right to tighten the defence as no team has ever won anything without a solid foundation which is their defence but it shouldn't come at the expense of the attack. It could be that Van Gaal feels he doesn't have the quality available to him that would enable him to keep a tight defence and play a more expensive style of football which is why he is using a measured approach. Keeping lots of possession each game can't quantify as attacking your opponent. It just means the team has had most of the ball. The play has to be quicker and the approach has to be more direct not in the sense of lumping long balls forward but by going forward faster and using inter-play between players to get the better of your opponents. I see some light at the end of the tunnel though. In the last 2 games, United have been better going forward and have created more. They would just need to score more now. I hope the improvement we have seen in United's attack is maintained and is not short-lived.

An area I feel Van Gaal is at fault is in choosing to keep a small squad. He has shown to be a manager that would play the most in-form player at that point of time and give chances to a player he sees as a first-teamer despite of poor form. He is right in the sense that he is trying to give as much continuity and consistency to his selection so that the starting eleven can gel better and faster but it makes it predictable for his opponents. At the start of the season, United were involved in 4 tournaments and the Premier League is a long, hard league to take part in especially between December and January when there are many matches played consecutively without much rest time in between. To have a small squad to cope with that is folly. He chose to keep a small squad so that there are opportunities for youngsters to find space in the first team which is fair enough and very much the United way but it would also mean that United would hope for no major injuries or an injury crisis to hit the team. At this point of time, United has to deal with some major injuries, an injury crisis and poor form. Having young players come into the team at this point is counter-productive because the pressure is on them to deliver which is unfair on them and too much to expect. These players would need to sink or swim and would mature faster as a result but in the short-term, it might not guarantee immediate results which is what a club like United need. This not the Manchester United of 1986 when there was more time available for Sir Alex Ferguson to build a team. Times have changed.

I hate to compare Van Gaal to Sir Alex as it would be unfair but Sir Alex utilised the squad very well. He always made all players feel important and part of the project unless they fell foul of the man. Through this approach, he kept players on their toes and he picked and choose which players to use for which matches based on his players characteristics and that of the opponents. Van Gaal has to evolve and move on with the times in his approach. Although with this job likely to be his last before retirement, I am not sure how willing he is to evolve and adapt. He is steadfast and determined in his ideas of how the game should be played and his philosophy but he is struggling and under fire due to the same determination and insistence which has crossed into stubborness and arrogance now. I wouldn't call for his sacking but I had expected more when he was hired. I know United were hiring a proven, experienced manager that was a winner but I remembered his teams played much better football than we are witnessing now. The only worry I had was in his man management which at the moment seems to be fine outside of that one incident with Victor Valdes. He has been blunt and honest to criticise players in the public through the media which was something Sir Alex didn't do. However, I dispel the fact that the players are playing with fear. They seem to be playing stuck in second gear but I don't feel there is any fear. It is well documented that Sir Alex would tear into his players if he feels they were messing about on the pitch or made mistakes. The fear was there in the players and they knew they had to be on top of their game. Sometimes even when the team is waltzing, they were torn into by Sir Alex. It didn't leave the players playing in a confused or fearful manner. It just meant that Sir Alex demanded the highest standard from his players. It is right for Van Gaal to demand the same high standards of his players but I don't feel they are playing with fear. They are playing in second gear likely due to the tactics.

On the issue of players, I feel United have been let down by the experienced members of the team. It is fair to say that the Bastian Schweinsteiger United have is not the one from 2-3 years ago. He is getting on in age, he is not as quick as he used to be, is not as mobile and can't last a full game but he is still a very good player even at 70-80% of his true quality. He is a leader and has a lot of experience. He is vital to have in the dressing room and on the field, he has just got to produce his best more consistently and have a more telling effect on the game. He should be able to tailor his game to cope with his age and exploit his strengths. United needs him to stand up and be counted more often now. He was November's Player Of The Month but was exposed in the crucial Champions League decider against Wolfsburg. That could be due to tactics though as he was lacking support from his midfield partner. Michael Carrick, has a style which is akin to a slow burner. The more he plays, the better he will get. This season, he has been in and out of the side and that has not suited him. He has been missing through injury too. United have missed his direct passes and the ability to read games. He too needs to stand up and be difficult to replace when he gets a chance to play. At his age, his involvement has to be measured and he can't start every game but at his age now, he should have the ability to quickly get into the groove when he is playing. He can't start every game and as such, he cannot expect to get more time to click into form. United needs him to stand up and be counted now too.

Chris Smalling has been excellent but he was responsible for allowing Naldo space to score the equaliser for Wolfsburg. For all he has done this season, the fans can forgive him for that error. The one area he has to improve on is his distribution out of defence. He has to also cope better with dealing with quick interplay around the box. He looks likely to face a spell on the sidelines due to injury after pulling up with injury in the later stages of the match against Wolfsburg and United are likely to miss him. There are many players out injured now which is unlucky for the team. Matteo Darmian and Smalling joined Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera, Morgan Schneiderlin and Wayne Rooney on the sidelines. Shaw, Rojo and Valencia are expected to be out for a long time. Darmian should be out for a moderate amount of time. I am not sure how far off Jones is from recovery. At this point of time, his recovery would be a boost to the defence. I am not sure how serious Schneiderlin's injury is but with Schweinsteiger likely to sit out a 3 match ban, his swift recovery will be vital too. Carrick could be used in centre defence with most of the injuries coming in that department. Herrera's recovery is also vital for United as an attacking force. He has become a fans favourite and whenever he is on the ball, he always looks likely to create something or score. Rooney is probably the only one most fans are not eager to see return to the team because of his poor form and the fact that he keeps playing despite of his poor form. Hopefully no-one else drops out injured before or during the next match against Bournemouth.

Finally, on luck. United have not had it with the injuries they have had. United have not had it with the way teams are defending against them. It's to the credit of their opponents that they are defending stoutly and bravely. The defenders are throwing their bodies on the line to block almost certain goals and that is so frustrating. As for profligacy, the players got to do better with their chances. The shooting has to be more accurate and the players who find themselves in attacking positions got to be more composed in front of goal. The shooting against West Ham was awful and wayward. Against Wolfsburg, United scored with their first chance which is rare this season and it normally helps settle the team and invite the opponents on but it doesn't help to concede so soon after taking the lead. There has to be greater composure and balance in holding on to leads. In recent games, United have hardly scored and when United have scored, like against Watford and Wolfsburg, they have let it go and not built on it. Young players have to mature faster, older players got to perform better and lead. Onwards to Bournemouth now. It is interesting to see how United deals with the setback of demotion to the Europa League as well as all the injuries they have got now. Would the team sink or swim? The performances on the field will tell.