ON THE ATTACK
LVG says frustrated fans must be patient
AS Louis van Gaal pointed out yesterday, Old Trafford has ‘not always been the big theatre of dreams’. He said he was sorry to say so, perhaps because it meant revisiting periods in Manchester United’s more recent history not dissimilar to this one.
But there was also a rather large flaw in the argument if he was trying to suggest that United supporters should be well used to seeing their team struggle to score goals while playing some fairly dire football. Not least the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm during other such spells.
Ferguson endured patches of form when United struggled to find the net. Indeed, if Van Gaal’s side fail again in tonight’s Champions League clash with CSKA Moscow it will match a time back in October 1992 when the club drew a blank for four games on the bounce.
But it was also a run that prompted the signing of Eric Cantona, the mercurial Frenchman arriving from Leeds a few weeks later and inspiring United to win the first of 13 Premier League titles under Ferguson’s guidance.
Today Wayne Rooney is cast in the Cantona role, and the mere fact Van Gaal said yesterday that he would not rule out resting his captain if his current dip in form continues is not exactly encouraging.
Maybe Van Gaal (right) had other periods in United’s history in mind. Maybe 2005 when Ferguson experienced similar difficulties. It was the autumn of discontent. Not only was there the acrimonious departure of Roy Keane but a Champions League campaign that had seen United fail to score in four of their six group games and eliminated as a result.
Again, however, Ferguson would rebuild and regenerate, guiding United to another title the following season and a Champions League-Premier League double a year later.
‘Now we are hopefully making history but it takes time,’ insisted Van Gaal yesterday and the Dutchman might yet prove successful in delivering more trophies.
But the United supporters who were chanting ‘ attack, attack, attack’ at Selhurst Park could be forgiven for lacking any real optimism when the post-Ferguson era has proved such a struggle so far.
Van Gaal called for United’s fans to remain supportive and he also insisted his team is making progress. ‘I think we are improving every day and you can see that in the results we have made,’ he said before reminding his audience that his team have briefly occupied top spot in the Premier League this season. ‘Until now there is always a progress,’ he said. ‘I can remember you are saying “defending, defending”, that is our problem. And I said “no, defensive organisation starts with the attackers”.
‘Now we are the best defenders of the Premier League (joint top as it happens) and you are saying we cannot attack. No, it is not true, it is only a moment in the process.
‘We have stood first in the Premier League. Now we have a bad period when you don’t score because football is scoring goals, football is not a process, football is not creating chances.’
He admitted last weekend’s performance at Palace did give him cause for concern.
‘The most important thing is that you create chances and that you finish the chances, and against Middlesbrough we have created more than enough chances,’ he said. ‘Against Crystal Palace it was a concern because we don’t create so much. That was one of a few matches where we were not the better team.’
This evening United most definitely need to be the better team, with victory required to enhance their chances of progressing from Group B. It may help that Morgan Schneiderlin is available despite missing training yesterday because of a ‘personal matter’.
Judging by his comments, Van Gaal will continue to look to Rooney for inspiration, even if he is not averse to omitting his captain if a run of one goal in seven games for the 30-year-old does not end soon.
Asked if he would consider resting Rooney, Van Gaal replied: ‘Yes, but not only for Wayne. I have done that for all my players. I have done that, for example, with Paddy McNair, who was a week in Ireland last week.
‘When I was a very young coach I did it with Jari Litmanen. He had problems in the months of November and December, so I did it. I sent him on holidays. That is not a big issue for me but it is more a big issue for the players. They are not so easy to convince.
‘But I have confidence in this player but he gives also more than only scoring goals. He has more credits than any other player.’