As most of you here are aware, I've always supported Louis Van Gaal since he was first announced as the new manager of Manchester United. Up until recently, I still held that perspective. With the recent loss the Southampton, I've finally had enough. To illustrate my thinking, I want to communicate this very clearly, and I want to outline something first.

• I DO NOT like firing managers

In my opinion, when you fire a manager, you are losing everything that they built. It is one of the reasons I was so against the firing of men like Mourinho and Carlo. They have built success, in a league and UCL win, at the club they were at, in the previous year no less. However, I have reached the point where I no longer value what Van Gaal has built already, and more to the point, I do not value what he will build in the future.

Regarding Van Gaal specifically in a positive manner:

He has shored up the United defence. There can be no doubt or argument against this. From the crummy system we had in the end day of Fergie, to the season with Moyes, and even leaking into Van Gaal's first season (5-3 against Leicester anyone), we now have a solid defence that rarely concedes.

United are conceding 0.82 goals per game across all competitions.

This is something that certainly should not be overlooked. Most managers would kill for that level of defensive production. In fact, from open play, opponents rarely score versus United at all. Out of the 29 goals scored against United this season, only 18 were scored from open play. (That's from memory, there may be some more set piece goals I've forgotten). That is stupid good. Minus set piece goals, United allow 0.51 goals a game, or one in every two games, which is outstanding. Out of the 35 games United has played this season, they have shut out their opponents in 17 of them.

Another positive aspect of Van Gaal is his willingness to play academy players, and other young talent. Borthwick-Jackson, Varela, McNair, Lingard, these players would not be getting chances under a different manager. His treatment of Depay and Januzaj are exceptions to this general rule, however. In addition, the buy of Anthony Martial was genius.

However, despite these good qualities, there are several things that trump them by some weight. I'll be as brief as I can, while still giving a solid explanation.

- Attacking Players

Whoever said defence wins games is an idiot. United has one of the best statistical defence records of all time and has won 16 out of 35 matches (barely over 50% for those of you who suck at math). How the actual fuck can this happen? Look at the players Van Gaal has had in attack, and look at their return:

Wayne Rooney. Top scorer in United history.
Anthony Martial. One of, if not the best young striker in the world.
Memphis Depay. Adjusting to the premier league, I'll give him a pass.
Juan Mata. This guy was the top chance creator in all of Europe when he moved to United. In the Southampton game, not a single chance was created by the team, let alone Mata, who came on as a sub in any case.

Other players who have now left:
Robin Van Persie: Yeah, he's too old for this now.
Angel Di Maria: I understand his move away was off the field related, but the entire time he was here could've and should've been handled better.
Javier Hernandez: Don't even get me started on this guy.

These attackers that have played at United since Van Gaal arrived are unquestionably elite, if not world class. Four left in disgrace, and four remain, failing to perform. Clearly, United is currently a place where attackers go to die.

- The Philosophy

Ahh, the philosophy. Possession, passing, control. Those three main aspects are what constitute "the philosophy." Whoopie. We've got the possession, clearly. There are exceptions, but most of the time United holds somewhere between 60-70% possession in a match. Fine, whatever. The passing has been good too. Someone passes, they find someone else. Not rocket science. Control, yes there's that too. Although United isn't quite as good in this category, they still control almost every game they play.

But see, there's this problem. This formula, this philosophy, it doesn't win. And it can't. Because first, it's not direct enough, and two, it limits the individual creativity of the players.

Even when Barcelona and Bayern played tiki-taka and possession based styles, they relied on the creativity of the central midfielders and wingers/strikers. Xavi and Ineista are prime examples of this, combining with Messi and Villa in particular. All really smart players, who could see what needed to be done and did it. Bayern is much the same, the creativity coming from Muller, Alaba, Thiago, and Lewa. When Bastian was there under Pep, he also displayed those attributes, which is why everyone naturally assumed he'd be a great signing for Van Gaal's possession style.

But he wasn't. In fact, in many games Bastian has been the worst player on the field. How can that be?

The obvious conclusion I've come to, is that Van Gaal values control over all else in a game. Don't take the 50/50, or even 60/40 pass. Take the 80/20. Now, not only does this eliminate creativity for individual players, but it highly restricts several other aspects of the game, namely:

Direct play
Counterattacking
Through balls
Combination
All play inside the 18

As anyone who has ever watched a United game this season is perfectly aware of, United moves the ball well through the entire field, only to fall to pieces around the box. This is because they simply run out of space, or the pass that guarantees continued possession is the one back, not forwards.

This ensures that United's most creative players, Mata, Schweinstager, Januzaj, Depay, Herrera, Carrick, are not only restricted, but basically doomed to failure. Herrera specifically has been benched due to "not working in the system" which I can and will literally translate to "he's takes too many chances with his passes."

Here's the problem. You don't get to break down a team playing a high percentage pass. If a player on any team plays a through ball the results in a goal, I can almost guarantee that there was a defender within an inch or two of making an interception. This is the Premier League. The defenders are too smart for that, especially when they know it isn't coming.

35 goals scored in the Premier League and Champions League group stage this season, in a total of 29 games. This is an average of 1.2 goals per game, keeping in mind that 12 of those goals were scored in 4 games.

You can't score goals consistently in this philosophy, let alone win games.

- The lack of trust in players

This is basically the control aspect again. I understand wanting to be positionally sound defensively, but screw that for attacking. As far as I'm concerned, players like Rooney-Mata-Martial-Depay are smart enough to know how and when to move, if they were not chained to their positions.

- Defensive Set Pieces

I don't give a damn about how well you defend open play, if you allow set piece goals, that's it. Instead of complaining about how poor we are at set pieces, I think I'll let the results do the talking:

Bouremouth: 2 set piece goals
Watford: 1
Southampton: 1
Newcastle: 1
Stoke: 1
Wolfsburg: 2
CSKA: 1
PSV:1
Burgge: 1

More math: That's 10 points dropped in the league, and a diabolical 7 points dropped in Champions League. If we could have those points back, even with all of our attacking woes, we'd be tied for Leicester at the top of the league and we'd have finished first in our CL group.

Think about that for a second.

I realize that a manager often cannot influence set pieces. But this constant conceding is an open wound begging to have a bandage put on it. And yet we've not improved at all, with our most recent defeat coming at the hands of the dreaded set piece.

- The Champions League

United got the best group they could've gotten. They still don't get through, mainly due to stupid (and preventable) conceding, and an awful 0-0 draw at home to PSV that embodied everything wrong with Van Gaal. No real chances created, and a 0-0.

- The money spent

This is where it truly hurts me. For 250 million pounds, United could have bought anyone in the world multiple times over. Bale? Why not? Pogba? Join the party. James? Course. Lewa? We've got room. All of those players I just mentioned could be bought for 250 million pounds TOGETHER. Instead, we've got Jesse Lingard as a starting winger, and Daley Blind playing centre back. I'm sorry what? I'm not against playing young players, but you SPEND 250 MILLION AND YOUR RETURN ON THAT WAS AN INABILITY TO SCORE AND CONCEDE A BUTTLOAD OF SET PIECES?

I honestly cannot comprehend that. 250 million and the only real world-class player on the team is De Gea, and maybe Smalling. Both of course, were here already, before Van Gaal.

Unbelievable.

Van Gaal out.

Very interesting with what you said there and I have to agree that Van Gaal has been pretty awful and I, a long time supporter of LVG am starting to agree that his time is up.

For me, the biggest problem has been his signings. Personally I think his philosophy is not the problem because if it is down properly it can be effective. When LVG came in, he should have focused on buying players that would work in his system. Instead he bought a bunch of creative players that he should have known would not function under him. IMO, if he had used the 250 million properly then things would have worked out and we would not be discussing this.

I think you being harsh on him . He is just getting started and things are not as dark as you think . You have understand that Van Gaal is just temporary there . Give him some more time till the end of the season so he can sink United further . Lets us enjoy .

On serious note . Van Gaal will finish top four . Believe it or not but he will .

@louis

My main issue with the philosophy is that it is based in not losing. I, personally, would rather win. 3 straight draws, which we've had this season, is the equivalent of 1 win and 2 losses. Draws are not efficient. Not if you want to win things. Our CL experience made that abundantly clear.

@Marcus

However, I have reached the point where I no longer value what Van Gaal has built already, and more to the point, I do not value what he will build in the future.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

Still think di Maria should've been handled differently. No excuses of "his heart wasn't in the jersey". Doesn't matter if he didn't play with his heart, he was still United's best player by a long shot. He should've been played a lot more in order to get the best out of him. Relegating him to the bench was what made him hate United even more.

If only we got Di Maria , we would have been deadly in attack .

Anyone see the two goals he scored today? Watched replays of them - absolute gems. I suggest you hit up the highlights on FootyRoom to check them out.

@Dynastian

I agree with you, but only to a point. I really wanted to keep Di Maria, statistically, he had a great season even though he sat on the bench for half of it. However, playing a good player just because you know they can be good is the same awful logic that has Rooney still starting for United up front, long after he should have been moved to the midfield or the bench.

I, personally, would rather win. 3 straight draws, which we've had this season, is the equivalent of 1 win and 2 losses.

I like to think this way too.

@sunflah

IF you do fire him who do you expect to take over ?

@Marcus2011 I desperately hope Mourinho does not come in because I hate his attitude. Because of this I think Giggs will come in for the rest of the season and then we will have to find a long term replacement in the summer.

Pep ia coming, i think he had a meeting with our management staffs today

Firstly, that was well written with a lot of thought behind it. So good job on that.

Onto the LVG topic, its been stated before but his unwillingness to change or adapt to each game and situation is what has hurt united the most. You can't play against every team the exact same way. Barca has been working on it but frankly MSN can topple almost any team alone. Bayern, one of the top 3, have some many different tactics that cam be changed without substitutions. I recall an interview were an opposing manager said once you get use to their possession style they quickly change to long balls. I belief that's were a manager shows how great he is. It's the awareness to see how you should play and being able to implement it during a game.

LVG frankly has made united more boring than Moyes and I think he currently has a worse win percentage.

On final note, United show why teams need better scouting. Teams like Sotton and Leicester have phenomenal scouting based on the player fitting in the squad. This will be LVGs final season at united.

@Rain

He's actually been better with that recently. Of course, his idea of changing tactics vs Southampton was to play five at the back, great, great job. Five at the back can be good going forward if you have real wingbacks, but Borthwick-Jackson and Lingard don't count and we got nothing out of them going forward all game. Slow clap.

Kristen Jack was saying today that United lost some of their better scouts in recent years, even the director of their youth academy is going to be leaving at the end of the year, the whole thing is a mess.

@Marcus

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure who I want coming in. I would've wanted Klopp or Carlo, but obviously they aren't happening. I also don't want Pep, because like Van Gaal he believes in his system too much. Unlike Barca/Madrid/Bayern/Juve, United has a way of playing that the fans like, and screw the manager if they want to upheaval it. I'd almost rather have a promising manager come in and do the job. Someone who is pegged to be a world-beater, but hasn't gotten to that level yet. Managers are important, but I don't think there is as big a difference between the Pep/Van Gaal/Mourinho/Carlo/Enrique and the tier below them as most people do.

If Understood you right then i agree that Pep , Van Gaal and Mourinho are very stubborn . They believe into system that worked for them and brought them titles . They can be a bit flexible depending on the match, squad they have and players form , but mostly stick strictly to one philosophy .

Carlo and Enrique IMO are flexible managers . They don't change much of something that has been working well for the squad . I think United fans have got bit spoiled with Ferguson days and any manager that comes will find difficult to please you . I say any manager that comes should find massive support until he gets it right .

If you going to be so demanding I am not sure what manager will emulate Ferguson because I think there is no one like Sir Alex . Why not try something different and give a shot with English manager . Like Alan Pardew . I would not mind manager like him coming to Chelsea . Sounds crazy at first but he has proven that he can turn crapy sides into a very solid and stable ones . Never know what he might do with top side .

@louis

I don't want Mourinho to be United manager too . I think most Chelsea fans don't want to see that to happen . Mourinho will be winning titles at any team . Like him or not but he will win . It is always safe appointment for any top club .

Well, I am not sure Di Maria's performances at PSG against Angers should be used as evidence that LvG made the wrong choice selling him. It is clear that the Premier League is much tougher and Di Maria himself found the physicality to be too much during the second half of the campaign last season.

It is to my displeasure to say that I have a strong suspicion Mourinho will be the next United manager.

I no longer want to watch Arsenal to mess up everything.

I miss hating Sir Alex . There were only two people in the EPL history would bring the best out of the season with drama , twists , controversies and big match day anticipations . Mourinho was the second one . If Sir Alex was Chelsea legend I bet everything that United fans would have hated him with all their heart just like they hate Mourinho .

Either way I hope Mourinho will be back because EPL feels empty . Todays derby with Arsenal was not as highly anticipated as it used to be with Mourinho in charge . I hope Guardiola comes here too . It is plain boring watch press conferences these days . Completely boring and match itself was as passionate as always .

Anyways here is a link Wenger missing his friend Jose

I have mixed feelings about this...I do not know who to blame exactly. LVG? The players? Or the injuries. Regardless, I think a sack is coming in ...because if we don't make UCL next year, then that would be a big financial deficit for United.

Ashwin, With the massive TV deal the BPL has, a team in relegation zone probably will make more than the revenue for participating in the UCL. The max a team could win in the UCL this season assuming they win every single game is 54.5 million euros (according to http://www.totalsportek.com/money/uefa-champions-league-prize-money/ ). Last season QPR earned 64 million pounds at 20th place. So frankly for english teams the UCL is mainly for merits and bragging or to hold top player. In financial terms its not as significant when you have to consider the schedules it puts the teams through.