United In Review 2015-16

I had wanted to write my review on United's season but that has been overshadowed by recent developments involving our now ex-manager, Louis Van Gaal. Van Gaal has been sacked in the aftermath of leading Manchester United to their record-equaling 12th FA Cup but before I delve further into that matter, let me summarise my review on United's 2015-16 season.

United like many of the big clubs had an underwhelming and inconsistent English Premier League campaign. At one point of the season, United were even top but couldn't hold on to that position for long. United missed out on the minimum target I presume for a club the size and stature of Manchester United, Champions League qualification. They finished the season level on points with Manchester City but for the second time in four years, United lost out to their neighbours on goal difference. This season, United improved defensively but just didn't score enough. United have almost always dominated on possession but in most games, they have not capitalised on superior possession with chances created or shots on goal. The emergence of Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford as well as the signing of Anthony Martial made some difference as the team showed greater verve, tempo and directness in its play when all three played. There were games where United produced football expected of United, swift attacking football with lots of chances created and goals scored but it didn't happen often enough.

In the Champions League, United had a disappointing campaign. United won all it's home matches except one and didn't win any of their away matches. They crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages itself which was an embarrassment but remained in European competition as they were demoted to the Europa League where United disappointingly exited to Liverpool in the Round of 16. It is never nice losing to Liverpool in any competition and it wasn't nice getting knocked out by them in the Europa League. In the League Cup, United survived longer than they did in 2014-15 season but were dumped out deservingly on penalties by Middlesbrough at home. The FA Cup as everyone knows was a saving grace for United's season.

Going into 2015-16, I am of the opinion that this was still a team in transition. It cannot be anything but that after another summer with lots of new signings and sales. United had failed to build on the squad built in 2014-15 and with this lack of stability it is unreasonable to expect a season where United would be challenging for the major honours. I understand that a team like Manchester United should always aim to challenge for every trophy available and rightly so but it doesn't mean it will be possible all the time like it is impossible to expect United to forever win trophies. A lean spell here and there should be expected because you can't win all the time. United just got to make sure the lean spell doesn't stretch into decades. Spending money to sign players doesn't equate to immediate success either. United would have done very well to have had a season where they challenged for the major honours deep into the season after signing 6 senior players and selling or loaning an equal amount of players or more.

Van Gaal was under increased pressure this season from the fans because they were not witnessing the kind of football they were used to or expected to witness. With the brand of football Van Gaal employed, he would have fans on his side as long as the team was winning, the moment the team so much as drop a point, they would all be against him and the moaning would get louder with a defeat. The fans were largely by his side in the previous season as it was his first season. They understood the transition and United had ended the season well to finish in the Champions League qualifying position. The end to 2014-15 was promising. In this season, they expected him to build on that and really challenge for the title but that didn't happen. The writing was already on the wall with summer transfer activities. It was going to be another brand new squad for United. In December, he faced his toughest time as an United manager after United were dumped out of the Champions League and didn't win a single game in the Premier League in that month. December was when the rumours started and grew louder of Van Gaal's sacking and potentially Mourinho's appointment. It didn't happen until the season was over.

Van Gaal to his credit did solidify United's defence. United ended this season with the best defensive record in the Premier League. People say that teams no longer fear coming to Old Trafford but in his two seasons in charge, Old Trafford has actually become a fortress for United. Based on home form alone, United finished at least top two in Van Gaal's two seasons at Old Trafford. For all the complaints people have of Van Gaal and his football, he has actually helped United finished higher than they did under David Moyes and won a trophy to go along with it. I agree United should not be aiming to finish fourth and fifth but it is still better finishing there than in seventh. There are fans who discredit him for the emergence of youngsters but the fact that he purposely kept the senior squad size small was to give youngsters the possibility to play in the first team. If he had kept the squad bigger, United would have more senior players to rely on when they faced injuries and these youngsters would have no space at all irregardless of whether his hand was forced to field them due to injuries or not. He had also the vision to sign Anthony Martial, someone not many had heard of and frankly many of us were sceptical of when he was signed especially at the fees we paid for him. I am firm believer that the fruits of Van Gaal's work would only be savoured after he has left. The youngsters were thrown into the deep end where they had to sink or swim and many did very well to swim. It would serve them very well in their development, maturity and mental strength.

What went against Van Gaal was that I felt he couldn't get to grips with English football especially when United travelled away. When teams get into United's faces, close them down early and go at United at 100 miles an hour, United struggle to cope with it. Another area United struggle to cope with is when teams played direct football. He had this issue in his first season and for a manager of his experience, he should have noted this aspect and worked on it for this season but he failed to rectify it. Van Gaal has an arrogance and stubborness about him and that worked against him. He felt that United could play the same way against anyone and at wherever they played which is fine but his failure to adapt to his opponents led to his downfall. Sir Alex had the same approach too but he was able to adapt to the opponents. If United had to battle, he made sure United won the battles on the pitch. To win the league, United cannot be pretty all the time and certainly can't play the same type of football all the time. They got to be ready to get down and dirty and that was something Van Gaal couldn't comprehend and cope with. In England, more so than in other parts of Europe, smaller teams would be looking to make up for their lack of quality available by trying to engage physically, play direct football and make it really tough for their more illustrious opponents to get into their rhythm.

In modern football, big teams constantly rotate their players and the requirement to do so is more in England than anywhere else in Europe because there are more matches played during a season with no winter break in between. If Van Gaal had his way, he would play the same eleven that did well previously week in, week out. I have noticed that if a line-up works in one game, he would keep employing the same line up unless there is a suspension, injury or drop of form. He didn't have the ability to rotate the players to keep everyone involved and fresh, rotating with a purpose and that is to play players with characteristics that can exploit your opponents' weakness. These are areas I feel he has been found wanting and led to his downfall. It didn't help too when he played players out of position. Last season, he played Wayne Rooney in centre midfield and with the form of Robin Van Persie and Falcao, many wondered why Rooney was playing there. This season, Rooney struggled as a forward and it was blessing in disguise that he got injured as it allowed Marcus Rashford to emerge. Since returning from injury, Rooney has vindicated Van Gaal's decision to play him in midfield last season. Sir Alex actually had the vision to play him in that position in his last season but there was a fall out between them on this matter. However, playing Juan Mata on the right wing, Jesse Lingard as a playmaker and Ashley Young as a forward is not quite a good idea. He did successfully convert Antonio Valencia into a right back from a right winger, Young did do well playing as a left back or wing back but not as successfully as Valencia and the versatile Daley Blind has done very well in centre back this season.

I feel Van Gaal deserve lots of credit for coping with the constant rumours surrounding his future since December 2015. Despite these rumours and constant pressure, with a young squad, he has managed to guide United to a cup triumph and a joint fourth placed finish (to look at it positively). However, I don't feel that he will tweak his ways and beliefs and that would result in more disappointment as it is not easy to play in England or the modern game holding on to old beliefs. Sir Alex tweaked his as the years went by to stay relevant and Van Gaal should have done the same. It has been a great career for Louis Van Gaal, it didn't quite work as planned in England in the short term but I believe his work will be noticed in the long term. I wish him a happy retirement and all the best in his future endavours.

Inter 2015-16

Inter's season ended last, last Saturday (7th or 8th May) with the 3-1 win over Empoli at San Siro which confirmed Inter's passage into Europa League 2016-17. Last night/early yesterday morning (14th or 15th May)'s match against Sassuolo was nothing but a dead rubber. By the way, after two 7-0 wins over them in 3 matches, Sassuolo have now beaten Inter for 3 consecutive matches.

Inter started the season very well, exceeded expectations, made fans dream and then tumbled down from the top but managed to control it's fall to finish fourth. Fans are disappointed at the decline in form and results in the second half of the season. However, I would just like to point out that Inter had a similar kind of a decline under Andrea Stramaccioni and Walter Mazzari in their first full season in charge. In both cases, Inter's decline in form and results were far worse than they were this season. Therefore, all things considered, Inter have actually done better than they have in recent seasons. It's not ideal for a club of the size, following, prestige and stature to be glad with qualification into the Europa League but under present circumstances, it is acceptable.

In my personal opinion, based on performances, I feel Inter has done very well to finish fourth. The football we have witnessed has been awful. Imagine waking up at 2.45/3.45am and watching that. Your passion and love for the club aside,your body will naturally give up and your eyes will close shut. I tried to sit through such matches in the early part of the season but I really struggled to stay awake. I gave up watching Inter play "live" at those hours unless it's a big game against Milan or Juventus. I did record the repeat telecasts of matches that I missed to catch up.

The previous paragraph just leads me to question the manager, Roberto Mancini. As a player, he was an attacker with flair and creativity. As a manager, he played some of the best, most attacking football I have witnessed as an Inter fan in his first 2 seasons in charge. Then as a rival at Manchester City, I had witnessed him play attacking, open football. What possessed him to bring back Catenaccio to present day Inter? Inter bought attacking players, Stevan Jovetic, Adem Ljajic, Ivan Perisic and Jonathan Biabiany but for most of the season they spent most of their energy defending rather than attacking. I agree and understand that in modern football, every player has their share of defensive work to carry out on the pitch but I feel our attackers had to be more concerned on what the opponents did and were going to do rather than focusing on the damage they can inflict on their opponents. It's no surprise that aside from Perisic and to an extent Biabiany, Palacio and Icardi, none of Inter's attackers flourished in the present tactical set-up.

Mancini had organised the team very well and made them tough to break down in the first half of the season. He did very well to fully utilise the squad and keep everyone on their toes and he kept the opponents guessing on how they would line up but again that was in the first half of the season. In the second half of the season, mistakes crept into their game. Our defenders were losing focus, the lack of a playmaking midfielder was painfully obvious and teams were wisening up to our tactical set up. Interestingly enough, Inter played more openly in the second half of the season and started creating more but were profligate in their finishing too.I know due to Atletico Madrid, the gritty, dogged, defensive game is in vogue but that was something Italian football used to do for ages. Italy pioneered Catenaccio in the 1960s and Inter were one of the main contributors to that style of football. However, since then, Arrigo Sacchi changed the playing style with his Milan of the 80s and 90s and Italian football has moved on from those days. Atletico's football is not attractive to watch which is why I am not in the favour of Diego Simeone taking charge at Inter even if he was a great player for us in his playing days.

I guess the writing was already on the wall when Inter agreed to sell Mateo Kovacic and Mancini so desperately wanted to sign Felipe Melo like as if he was Socrates. We have seen how Melo plays from his time at Juventus, Fiorentina and the Brazilian national team. He loves cracking bones more than creating chances. He was a ticking time bomb and it was clear to see but yet Mancini was desperate to sign him. We have already got a defensive midfielder who can offer a lot more than Melo in Gary Medel. I understand that Inter were tempted by the amount Real Madrid were willing to pay for Kovacic, influenced by the need to observe Financial Fair Play rules but it was a move that has not benefited the player or Inter in the footballing side of things. Kovacic hardly features at Real Madrid and Inter lacks creativity in its midfield. It would actually make sense for both parties to try if Inter re-sign him even if its on loan during the summer.

A lot was made of the signing of Geoffrey Kondogbia. Fans crowded to welcome him but I didn't quite understand the hype around him. We weren't signing a player of the calibre of Ronaldo. I hadn't watched him play before so I couldn't understand the hype. After watching him this season, I still don't understand the hype around him. I felt the hype was largely a victory of ego as we beat AC Milan to signing him but based on the season that has just passed, I don't feel Milan regret not signing him. He has lost his place in the French national team after joining Inter and that's an indication of how bad it has been. A signing has to be made to reinforce the team and boost the quality of the squad. From the signings at the start of this season, only Miranda, Jeison Murillo and Ivan Perisic has positively reinforced the team and this is an area where Inter has proved to be inadequate resulting in the lack of results on the pitch.

Inter lacks proper planning and scouting. Instead of spending 29 million Euros on Kondogbia, it would have been wiser to have spent much lesser to purchase Marco Benassi and Alfred Duncan, two players who were part of our Primavera, know what it means to play for Inter, the weight of expectations that come with it and have youth on their side. They are also familiar with Italian football and wouldn't need much time adjusting to the rigours of it. We could have kept Kovacic too. Medel is a strong enough leader to lead the midfield. This is an Inter team that had no midweek European commitments. They had a lot of time on their hands to prepare weekly for a Serie A match. Instead of signing Jovetic, we should have kept Xherdan Shaqiri. He had only spent half a season at Inter, he hadn't properly adjusted to Italian football yet and Inter sold him for a profit of 1 million Euros. It would have made greater sense to have kept him and let him play in Jovetic's role and not spend on 3 million Euros for signing Jovetic on loan. Quite simply, if Inter reduce its need to sign players, we don't need to sell too much and can keep the squad intact for longer to reap its benefits. Everyone would just need to learn to be more supportive and patient to see its rewards. The Inter youth set-up has been doing well for some seasons now but not much faith is placed on these youngsters. It seems like the loan policy is to just loan them out to anyone who is interested. There doesn't seem to be a follow-up on how they are coming along and there is no great faith placed in them which is exactly what Inter should not do if they are trying to cope with Financial Fair Play and trying to balance it with the expectation of success on the pitch. On top of these youngsters, it would be wise to sign quality players with experience, winning mentality and character. This would help the team take the next step when challenging for major honours. The case in point being Miranda. We need to make more clever signings like him, players aged between 26-32 with experience, maturity and winning mentality.

It would also help a great deal if Mancini just broke the shackles off the team and decide to take the game to the opponents. Against most opponents, a team with the quality of Inter can take on teams on the front foot. In certain cases, I understand the need to be more cautious and defensive. I understand the need to be gritty. You can't win league titles by playing attacking football and being positive all the time. There will come moments in the season when a team is required to grind out 1-0 wins. That's the mark of a champion team, the ability to win when not playing well but it doesn't harm anyone if Inter looked to take the game to their opponents more often than not. A lot of Inter fans are stuck in the past, myself included, we just need to face the reality that Inter can no longer afford to sign the best players in the world like we used to. In general, Italian football no longer holds financial muscle in European football and has lost its appeal. The Serie A has become a league for players to come to nearing the end of their career or when they are at the beginning of their career. That is the reality. I understand the reality but I reminisce because Inter excited me a great deal in the past even if we did suffer lots of disappointment and under-achievement. At least the team played much better than they are doing today.

Another area I feel Inter has to look into is signing more Italian players. The Italian players that are currently at Inter play a bit part role. Danilo D'Ambrosio is the closest to a first teamer amongst all the Italian players in the squad. Eder is a naturalised Italian and he was signed during the winter transfer window but has not had the desired effect because he is doing a lot of defensive work which leaves him blunted as an attacker. Davide Santon has declined in form since he was discovered by Jose Mourinho. He has never looked the same since Mourinho left. He had a brief renaissance at Newcastle but not been the same since. Andrea Ranocchia's errors has led to the signing of Miranda and Murillo and his departure albeit on loan to Sampdoria where he has not set the world alight either. I understand that Inter in its formation was a club that included foreigners into the team and has always been welcoming for foreign players but with Italians, they understand what Inter as a club means, its expectations and they understand Italian football much better. You reduce the need for a player to adapt to Italian football and Italy when you sign an Italian player. I admit there isn't a big enough talent pool like there used to be of Italian players but Inter can always look to develop on their own.

Those who know me, know that I hate our captain, Mauro Icardi. I hate him for personal reasons and not what he does on the pitch. I started disliking him after he stole his best friend's wife and his class-less reaction to it. I felt it was all in poor taste. It is true that whatever anyone does in their personal life is none of our concern as fans and we cannot judge because we do not know the full extent of the story and that is something I am coming to terms with now. However, if I take the moral equation out of it and judge him primarily as a footballer, I don't feel that he has what it takes to captain the side because he doesn't seem to have natural leadership qualities and he is not a great striker. He has a great conversion rate and I got to acknowledge that and he is a very good striker but he is ill-fitted in Mancini's current tactical set up. In general, Mancini's tactical set up suits no attacking player but for a player like Icardi who has no pace to outsprint a defender, no power to bulldoze past a defender, no body strength to hold up play and no skills to dribble past an opponent, it is not ideal. He relies on chances created for him and he is most dangerous in the box. There is nothing wrong with that but it's rare to find a modern attacker who is only a goal poacher that comes to life only in the box which is again nothing wrong but for a player like that to be effective, you need the entire team to play proactively and feed him which is what they are not able to do this season.

For next season, I am pretty sure Mancini would remain Inter's manager unless he receives an offer from the Italian national team or has a falling out with the owner and/or director or has a general change of heart. I just hope that if he stays, he brings back attacking football. I have no faith that Inter's directors would take my heed and start putting faith in players developed at Inter but I do hope they have the sense to try and re-sign Kovacic. Handanovic seems likely to leave after being reportedly unhappy at Inter not qualifying for the Champions League, which is a pity because he has been our best player for so many seasons now. Inter should get some good money if they do sell him and I hope Mattia Perin is signed in his place. I hope Icardi is removed as captain and hopefully sold but I doubt either would happen. I would just need to make peace with myself on Icardi. I hope more Italians are signed. Jovetic is another player that is reportedly unhappy and could leave and something just doesn't seem right in the dressing room with a lot of reportedly unhappy players. More than Icardi, I hope Felipe Melo is sold. We'll see now what unfolds during the summer. I do hope as well that if Mancini stays, he doesn't get desperate to sign more of his former players who are now over-the-hill (eg. Yaya Toure). Stop acting like a lover that misses his ex Mancio.


The best thing about Inter in 2015-16, Inter's home and away jerseys. :-)