Manchester United fans have been very patient with Louis van Gaal’s assertion that creating a winning team is a process.
But when you look at the speed at which Liverpool have changed their style under Jurgen Klopp we begin to wonder why this process is taking so long.
Sure, Manchester United are hard to beat these days.
But with the amount of money spent by Manchester United over the last 18 months the fans surely have a right to expect something a little more entertaining from their team.
The concern is that Manchester United simply aren’t taking enough risks with their offensive play and statistics, published this week by The Guardian, seem to back that up in a damning fashion.
Here they are:
Manchester United have made a higher percentage of backwards passes (17%) than any other team in The Prem.
They have the lowest percentage in The Prem with regards forwards passes (30%).
The are joint second where it comes to sideways passes.
They have attempted 77 shots on goal. Only Sunderland have less. Meanwhile City’s shots total is almost double United’s (148).
These stats back up the idea that Louis van Gaal is more concerned with not losing than winning.
We think that Manchester United fans would be happier to let in 3 and win than eek out a 1-0 win.
The current team rarely gets behind the opposition defence , instead slowing the play down to a walking pace and trying to cautiously pick the opposition lock with every opponent behind the ball.
The longer LvG’s tenure at Manchester Untied goes on, the more e seems like the man who has steadied the ship rather than returned the club to greatness.
We think that Gary Neville was referring to Manchester United when he talked about his football philosophy with regards Salford City (the club he part owns) this week.
We always want to play a fast, aggressive, passionate, forward-thinking level of football. We all believe in that. Playing forward quickly, trying to score as many as we can. Obviously playing possession football as well, but fast football is something we’ve all been brought up on.
We like that about the managers now. Everything is fast and aggressive, passionate. We want to play football with a level of risk.
It’s what Manchester United fans have grown up on too. And they want it back.
