Louis van Gaal came to repair the damage David Moyes had inflicted after taking on Fergie’s reigns in 2014, and the Dutchman hasn’t reached the standards expected of him. While some of it is done to his own naivety and stubbornness, one must also acknowledge the tremendous bad luck the man has suffered over the last 2 years, due to a string of sustained injuries. While many had initially pinpointed that the number of injuries were mostly because the players were finding it hard to adapt to his training methods, yet that reason doesn’t seem to justify the recurring injuries anymore since all the players should have gotten used to it by now.
This was what Steve Copell told BBC about his thoughts on van Gaal abd the injuries he has had to deal with: “It’s easy to criticise and I don’t want to be jumping on any kind of bandwagon oflaying out all his faults. He’s a man of quality and a man who has achieved success and at the moment this is a defining week – two good results and everyone will be looking forward, two bad results and everyone, again, will be questioning whathe’s done. Fourteen injuries, you have to give him time. I think they’d have to lose both (for Van Gaal to be sacked). I look at both those games and United should win them both and I really think they will, I really believe they will win both games. You’d have to question it if they don’t.”
United won the massive game against Arsenal 3-2 at Old Trafford a few weeks back , but the hero of the game, Marcus Rashford came in only because both Wayne Rooney and Will Keane were out injured. The Red Devils arrived into that match with injuries to 15 different first team players, and incredibly seven fullbacks were injured in addition to United’s two best players – Rooney and David De Gea. Far from being an excuse for the team underperforming, it should be considered a legitimate explanation. However, the team performed exceptionally well and garnered the 3 points.
Even last night against Manchester City, United started off as underdogs. Although several of the players are slowly returning now, yet the team looks far from settled, as it should given the low amount of time these footballers have played with each other. Bastian Schweinseiger has been on and off in an injury plagued season, as have Matteo Darmian, Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo. Out wide, Memphis Depay has been inconsistent, Jesse Lingard unreliable so the pressure if scoring has fallen mostly into the shoulders of young Anthony Martial, the 19 year old Frenchman who has been United’s saviour a number of times this season. Marcus Rashford, the 18 year old who is now being hailed as United’s next big thing, has also scored 5 goals in 8 games so far, but it is both impractical and unrealistic to expect teenagers to keep firing on all cylinders over a period of time.
All said and done, one hopes the United board takes a sensible decision on the Dutchman once the season ends. With Luke Shaw, who suffered a horrifying leg break against PSV Eindhoven in September and is likely to miss the entire season, Wayne Rooney, United’s captain and talisman who has been eyeing a return in April after being out for nearly two months with a little ligament injury and Ashley Young, the mercurial winger who is also close to full fitness, one hopes that the Old Trafford outfit can finally sort it out as the season heads to it’s business end, and get a spot in the Champions League as well as win the FA Cup and finish on a high.
