No manager’s opening press conference deserves to be taken especially seriously. That’s a given.
Because, quite simply, the agenda at these things isn’t the truth. The agenda is, first of all, trying to look impressive—whether that be powerful, knowledgeable or cool—and, second of all, trying to make the upcoming job easier in any way possible.
So, when Louis van Gaal sat down and said he planned to spend “three or four weeks” assessing his new Manchester United squad before signing any new players, there was a good chance he wasn’t being absolutely truthful. There was a strong likelihood that this was just an experienced, sensible manager who knew it was important for his new players to believe that they were all getting a fair chance under him. It was probably all fine—the United manager surely knew the exact urgency with which his squad required centre-backs, central-midfielders and wingers, as proven by the extended “assessment period” of last season under David Moyes.
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It’s just that, there is always that slight doubt. The possibility lingers that Van Gaal meant exactly what he said about not wanting to sign anyone for another month. Or that he was covering for a chief executive whose transfer window may have already peaked with the signings of Luke Shaw or Ander Herrera. And, if either of those options for some reason represents the truth, what happens then?
Well, then, surely United and Van Gaal would be making their first co-error. Because however useful a considered—and fair—approach to adjusting your squad might be, it’s still an extravagance. You can afford to take your time when your squad is settled, close to its peak and already successful. But if you’re Manchester United, coming off a season where you finished seventh, with half a dozen players leaving and another half a dozen who really should leave, and a manager turning up in mid-July, then thinking time has got to be less affordable.
Whatever Van Gaal would ideally prefer, United can’t afford to be too cool to rush after the season it’s just had. The absence of Alex Ferguson exposed a wilted United squad that requires rebuilding, not simply rejigging, and the scale of the job that needs doing there almost certainly can’t be done in the last two weeks of the transfer window.
Look at the details for yourself.
The defence around which the club’s late 2000s resurgence was built needs replacing in full. Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have all exited the club this summer, with only Evra filled-in-for so far. Luke Shaw is an appropriately bold signing at left-back, but Johnny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling are now the only centre-backs in the squad and Rafael the only real right-back.
These players all have bits of proof that they’re good enough for United, but there definitely isn’t enough evidence to find conclusively in their favour. Rafael, Evans and Jones have been injured too often to build long runs of games in the team, while Smalling veers between classy defender and man who can barely recognize a football. Do they deserve to be trusted, alone, to win titles? At best, they’re a risk a club like United shouldn’t need to take.
Of the midfield, asking questions would only waste time. Out wide, Ashley Young and Nani should be finished with after being infuriating to watch for as long as anyone can remember, and Antonio Valencia’s new contract brought to mind the idea of him as a wing-back under Van Gaal, which speaks of the kind of performances he’s put in for the club most recently—strong, a lot of running, but not necessarily a lot of finesse. Adnan Januzaj is the only really convincing winger United has, and as a teenager, you can’t rely on him just yet.
And everything gets worse in the centre. Despite the signing of Herrera, the nonsense of United’s signing policy over the last five years means the squad is still short of proper, functioning midfielders. Michael Carrick is injured and possibly beyond dominating games (if you believe he ever did). Marouane Fellaini did nothing to suggest he should play at United last season. Tom Cleverley has got the idea but not the ability, and I put Phil Jones in the list of centre-backs for a reason. Without someone to play next to Herrera, United have a partial solution to a major problem—which isn’t generally how you beat super-squads like Manchester City and Chelsea.
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From the outside looking in, the decision to make decisions quickly seems obvious. United has almost half of a top-class team missing, with a month-and-a-half left of the transfer window. If ever there is a time to not give the players who failed last season a chance, it’s now.
This isn’t to suggest that football teams come out as the precise sum of their parts, or that Van Gaal wouldn’t be right to think he could extract more from the same players available to Moyes before him (he’s just maximized Holland’s potential at the World Cup). But United finished 22 points behind Manchester City last season and it feels unlikely that the strength of Van Gaal’s personality alone will make up that difference.
Before you disagree, take into account the wider context of the league United are in, where those ahead of it are reinforcing rather than stagnating. They’ve all made big signings. Given Chelsea’s signing of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luis, Arsenal’s of Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy, and Manchester City’s of Fernando, Bacary Sagna and Willy Caballero, it’s arguable that Shaw and Herrera only stop United from slipping further back.
In this league, you just wouldn’t guess that incremental adjustments would be enough to make up the gap to the title, or even the top four. That means that names linked to United all summer, such as Angel di Maria, Mats Hummels and Arturo Vidal, all sound good, but in this instance can’t be optional extras. Filling the holes in the team so evident last season is a necessity, and leaving it too late for the sake of an “assessment period” would be mismanagement of priorities 101.
I’m saying that for once Van Gaal can’t play it cool. If he does, then he ends up stuck with limited resources and having to take risks that a Manchester United manager shouldn’t really expect to take. He’s shown he’s good, but can he play without wingers, centre-backs and central-midfielders?
Then again, like I say, these press conferences aren’t to be taken especially seriously, so he probably knows all this already. He’s made himself sound cool, but he’s probably doing the business as well. We’ll just have to wait and watch.
Ethan Dean-Richards is a London-based writer. Follow him on Twitter.