Following the first season for Louis van Gaal at Manchester United lets assess the good and bad, and think about possibilities for upcoming seasons. It was always going to take some time for the Manchester United football club to rebuild. Following the departure of the great Sir Alex Ferguson two years ago, the Red Devils were left weirdly rudderless. They had just won the 2012 2013 Premier League title-their sixth English top-flight trophy in a decade-but without their longtime manager in the driver's seat, it was unclear exactly how things were going to go for the team in the future.
Badly, it turned out. David Moyes was a disaster as Ferguson's replacement, quickly tearing down Man Utd's status as England's best team. Moyes was sacked by late April, a month before the 2013 2014 season had run its course, but the damage was done: the Red Devils dropped to seventh place on the Premier League table, and a cloud of woe and frustration fell upon Old Trafford.
However, at the beginning of this season, it seemed like things were going to turn around. Fans in the Manchester United away shirt 2014 2015 were intrigued by the arrival of Louis van Gaal as the new manager. Van Gaal seemed like the perfect candidate to bring the Red Devils back to the zenith of English football-especially after he made such waves as the manager of the 2014 Netherlands World Cup team.
Growing Pains
As we are seeing now that more than a year has gone by since Van Gaal's hiring, things were never going to be that easy. Moyes did some real damage at Old Trafford by tearing down the spirits of both players and fans alike. In his first year at Manchester United, Louis van Gaal needed to get everyone back into the right mindset, and that was going to take some time.
The good news is that the Dutchman has, at the very least, accomplished that much. With a fourth place finish in the 2014 2015 Premier League and a strong run in the 2014 2015 FA Cup, the Red Devils and their soccer fans can at least feel confident again.
Not that there weren't growing pains along the way. The beginning of the season was dreadful (especially following a flawless friendly fixture run in the summer), the team had some serious consistency issues, and Van Gaal was never able to make much out of his offense.
It wasn't a perfect season by any means, and if Louis were coaching under another club president (such as Real Madrid's notoriously trigger happy Fiorentino Perez) he would be packing his bags right now. But thanks to a strong improvement over the disastrous 2013 2014 run, as well as a number of big highlights, Van Gaal will live to fight another day at Old Trafford.
HighlightsÂ
So which were the best moments of Louis van Gaal's first season at Man Utd? When did the wearers of the Manchester United away shirt 2014 2015 or home soccer jersey look the strongest this year?
The highlight of the season was almost certainly the April 12th home game against Manchester City, which the Red Devils won 4-0. It was the first crosstown derby that United had won since 2012, and a clear sign that the football club was emerging from the dark.
But other highlights abounded along the way, like a pair of wins against Liverpool, or strong deflections of teams like Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. All three of those soccer teams were gunning for United's top four spot this season, so fighting them off is certainly an accomplishment.
Places for Improvement
In spite of these highlights, there is still much room for improvement at Old Trafford. The football club barely held things together in the last month of competition, failing to win a single one of their last five games, and ultimately falling behind Arsenal in the standings.
So what went wrong? How did the Red Devils go from capping off a six-game winning streaking with a win against Manchester City, to struggling to so much as score a goal in the final weeks of the season?
The biggest issue, and the thing that Van Gaal will need to improve in his second year, is United's offense. In fact, arguably Van Gaal's biggest blunder since becoming the Man Utd manager was his decision to pay nearly £60 million to sign Angel di Maria from Real Madrid. Di Maria scored just three goals in 27 Premier League appearances, leaving the Red Devils without a strong new offensive presence. Hopefully, Van Gaal will have better luck with this summer's transfer deals.
What do you think of the first season for Louis van Gaal at Manchester United? Do you think the Dutchman made a strong improvement at the football club, or do you believe he is the wrong fit? In any case, pick up a Manchester United football shirt from Soccer Box to mark the end of the season, and engage with us on social media to keep track of summer soccer news! We can be found on Facebook, Pinterest, Google + and other popular platforms.
