It was reported that Ryan Giggs was told, from the start of his tenure as Manchester United manager, that he wouldn’t be getting the job permanently.
If the Welshman thought he had a chance a keeping his position longer term he would surely have picked his strongest teams for each game and attempted to engender some continuity in a flailing team.
If this wasn’t a tryout for the permanent Manchester United manager’s role then Giggs would have nothing to lose by trying lots of different formations and players.
Indeed he could well have been asked to get as many of the squad on the pitch as possible in order to showcase the talents and frailties of the squad for an incoming manager pushed for time?
Manchester United have given a start to every single fit senior squad member, and even some players from the youth team, since Giggs took over.
Latest reports suggest that Louis is coming and, having so little time to assess his squad before the World Cup, perhaps he was given the chance to pick Manchester United teams before deciding who to axe and who to buy this summer.
After the debacle of the transfer window last summer Manchester United will be doing everything they can to ensure a successful window this time around.
And with Louis on World Cup duty until July this would be the next best way for him to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the squad from afar.
The Dutchman will obviously have a good understanding of the Manchester United squad anyway and a decent idea of who to bring in.
But these games, with everyone getting minutes, could give the Dutchman a really strong idea of who he wants to keep and what areas most need strengthening this summer. Why else would the abject Young and Nani have started against Sunderland? Why else would Wilson and Lawrence have started against Hull?
To that end we wouldn’t be at all surprised if van Gaal is picking the Manchester United teams already with a view to understanding exactly what Manchester United needs in the window.
