Tradition is not a worry for ruthless United boss

SO IT’S hello to Louis van Gaal and goodbye to the Manchester United we have known for a lifetime. In the same way Liverpool’s ‘ boot r oom’ culture was consigned to the past when Gerard Houllier arrived in 1998, some of the traditions and methods that were part of United’s fabric will no longer mean what they once did.

With a foreign manager in charge for the first time, they will be susceptible to the i ssues and changes t hat impacted on all other clubs in the Barclays Premier League while United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, dominated.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not criticising United’s selection of van Gaal. He comes with an outstanding pedigree and on the back of a tremendous summer with Holland in the World Cup. He knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

Clearly, it’s going to be his way and his alone. He may have chosen Ryan Giggs to be his assistant, but a number of van Gaal’s blunt comments illustrate how things are going to be so different at United.

First he was critical about the balance of the squad — could you i magine David Moyes saying that 12 months ago about the one he inherited from Ferguson? — and he left board members squirming after attacking the scheduling of their lucrative US tour.

Another bone of contention is Luke Shaw. He, like Ander Herrera, is a ‘ United signing’ rather than a van Gaal purchase. United spent £30million on England’s future long-term leftback, but van Gaal has publicly called him unfit and has been tracking Sporting Lisbon’s Marcos Rojo and Ajax’s Daley Blind — both of whom can play in Shaw’s position. Issues such as these can often cause tension behind the scenes.

Then there was his complaint about United’s training base at Carrington being ‘ too exposed to wind’. Now he’s demanding changes, along with two new Desso pitches — at a cost of £800,000 — to exactly replicate the playing surface at Old Trafford.

Something similar happened at Melwood when Houllier came in. He made all of the pitches exactly the same measurements and the same feel as Anfield. There were wooden shooting boards dot- ted around the field, which had been used daily since they were brought in by Bill Shankly, but Houllier removed them all. He banned mobile phones, too.

Houllier arrived on the back of helping France win the 1998 World Cup and Phil Thompson and Sammy Lee, who both cherished the boot room philosophy, had their eyes opened to radical changes.

When Rafa Benitez followed in 2004, with a CV including two La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup with Valencia, he did things his way, too. He paid no heed to what Houllier had done previously. More changes were made t o Melwood, including the installation of a steep running hill.

New methods could take you aback. Occasionally we’d think: “That can’t be right”, as Houllier and Benitez tried to get their points across — but even if you didn’t agree you did what they said as they both had the kind of CV that gave weight to their actions.

That’s exactly what it will be like with van Gaal. There will be no uncertainty, unlike with Moyes, who appeared caught between doing things his way and trying to respect United’s heritage.

Tradition demands that United play with flying wingers, but van Gaal is going to dispense with that system for the time being and opt instead to go with three central defenders.

I admire managers who get the most out of the squads they have to work with; van Gaal doesn’t have a winger of Angel di Maria’s quality, so playing three at the back allows his three best attackers — Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata — to play i n their best, central positions. But I don’t see how a change in formation and two signings will suddenly catapult them back to the top.

In 16 seasons at club level, van Gaal — who has won seven league titles — has finished outside the top three on just three occasions, but his aim will be to get United into the Champions League. I expect a challenge for the top four but, to get there, they still need two quality defensive additions.

As a target, that is at odds with everything United have strived for over the past two decades. But t hese are changing times — and nothing shows that more than the man who will oversee the beginning of the transition against Swansea this lunchtime.