ZIMBABWE INDEPENDENT

22
Zimbabwe independent august 1 to 7, 2014
sports news
Van Gaal, Moyes: How they differ
It is the beach trips that sum up
the difference between Louis van
Gaal and David Moyes.
For Moyes, a training session
this time last year on Sydney’s
Bondi Beach midway through
a week-long pre-season tour
ended with Manchester United
seeking refuge after word spread
of United’s presence on one of the
world’s most famous beaches.
It became impossible for the
session to continue.
For his replacement Van Gaal, it
was a means to an end, directing
the team bus half an hour out of
its way — towards Santa Monica
instead of straight to the hotel
— after a 12-hour flight from
Manchester to Los Angeles. This,
he reasoned, would get the lactic
acid out of his players’ legs and
ensure they were better prepared
for the following day’s training.
One seemed to underestimate
the scale of interest in the club he
had been appointed to manage,
not thinking that the team’s
presence would attract scores
of onlookers. The other was
clear in his vision - he set out to
accomplish a task and did exactly
that.
Excessive travel
It is obvious there are aspects of
Manchester United’s pre-season
tour of the United States that Van
Gaal, vastly experienced at the
highest level following stints in
charge of Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern
Munich and the Netherlands,
would never have sanctioned had
he been in place when they were
arranged.
“You have to travel distances,
you have to fly a lot, you also have
jetlag — that is not very positive
for a good preparation,” he said.
Assistant manager Ryan Giggs
signed off the tour schedule,
although the Welshman did not
arrange it.
Even the daily trip from their
Beverly Hills hotel to the LA
Galaxy training base 25 miles
away in Carson took an hour.
Once there, the facilities were
excellent, but then so were the
ones Real Madrid used at the
University of California — and
that was only a mile from Beverly
Hills, where the European
champions were also staying.
Distances are important in Los
Angeles, where traffic is so dense.
The excessive travelling lay at
the heart of Van Gaal’s criticism
of the club’s touring schedule,
which he voiced in public twice
within a week of reporting for his
first day as Manchester United
manager on 16 July.
On neither occasion did he
inform the man responsible for
appointing him, executive vicechairman
Ed Woodward, or his
commercial team that he was
about to air his grievances in a
forum that would ensure they
were transmitted around the
world.
Moyes, who sometimes
appeared ill at ease in front of the
cameras, tended to confide in a
select few. Van Gaal, knowing the
likely impact, told everyone.
Inner confidence
No-one can be sure how the
next 10 months will pan out for
the 62-year-old, but there is a
certainty about the Dutchman, an
inner confidence which gives rise
to renewed optimism among fans
who have just witnessed United’s
worst league campaign in 24
years.
“We need to have a strong
manager to have a strong club,”
said fan Paul Brane, from
Stevenage — one of the hardy
souls who, recognising there will
be no European football at Old
trafford in the coming campaign,
travelled to Denver to see his
team overcome AS Roma in the
second match of the tour.
“twelve months ago I was
prepared to give David Moyes
every chance. But, looking back,
he should never have been
appointed.
“He is a decent man by all
accounts, but as manager of
Manchester United, he was
clearly out of his depth.”
Van Gaal is not. He has stated
his opinion that Manchester
United are the biggest club in the
world.
However, as he also points out,
he has been in charge of “the
number one side in Holland" -
Ajax, “the number one side in
Spain” — Barcelona, and “the
number one side in Germany”
— Bayern Munich. And that is
without mentioning his two stints
in charge of the Netherlands
whom he led to third place at the
2014 World Cup in Brazil.
As is normal in such situations,
the non-playing members of
United’s squad did a running
session after the 3-2 win over AS
Roma.
Under the watchful eye of
fitness coach tony Strudwick,
a group made up of Anders
Lindegaard, Darren Fletcher,
Javier Hernandez and Wilfried
Zaha pushed themselves through
a series of shuttle runs and
sprints.
Within half an hour, they were
heading back to the changing
rooms for a shower. A couple
of minutes later they were out
again, sent to the gym for more
work that lasted an additional 15
minutes.
Those concerned were clearly
surprised at this addition to their
workload. At least one looked
annoyed, but no-one challenged
Van Gaal’s authority.
“With my direct character, I
say things as they are,” he said.
“It can be good and it can also be
worse.”
Manager’s approach
United’s players have already had
an insight into their manager’s
approach. Though a joviality
is often present, he rounds on
anyone not carrying out their
duties to his satisfaction.
In an open training session
ahead of that first game in LA,
Chris Smalling and Fletcher were
among those singled out for the
most forceful of demands - why,
Van Gaal wanted to know, were
they not looking at the ball when
executing their shooting practice?
And goalkeeper Ben Amos was
unlikely to be feeling good about
himself in the dressing room
following the Roma game.
He had just suffered the
embarrassment of conceding a
goal from 60 yards, struck by
Miralem Pjanic, that went straight
over his head and into the net
without bouncing.
If he was looking for a lift from
his manager, he did not get it.
“In four seconds I can run 50
metres, so what do you think?”
said Van Gaal when asked if Amos
was at fault.
That no-nonsense approach will
help him in one aspect of the job -
reducing the size of a squad that,
by common consensus at United,
was too big last season.
There have been departures -
Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand,
Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra
among the most notable - but
this year there are no midweek
Champions League nights to offer
Van Gaal scope to switch his team
Former Man U manager David Moyes (left) and new manager Louis Van Gaal
around.
He has said he will spend a
couple of weeks assessing his
squad before deciding who
he needs - and who can be
jettisoned.
It is evident he has too many
forwards, and Shinji Kagawa and
Javier Hernandez would seem
most vulnerable.
“We have four number 10s, so
it is not balanced in my eyes,” he
said last week.
His midfield and central
defence have been questioned.
New signing Luke Shaw has been
training on his own because Van
Gaal thinks the 19-year-old is
not fit enough.
And what of Marouane Fellaini,
Moyes’ only signing of last
summer? A move to Napoli has
been suggested for the Belgian,
although United sources say
there has been no contact.
Van Gaal, who is unlikely
to get his way over his dislike
of long-distance travelling for
tours because of the commercial
benefits to the club, will be
allowed to do it his way when it
comes to the playing squad.
One aspect of managing
Manchester United which
undermined Moyes towards the
end of his time at Old trafford,
was the fact his words tended to
be dissected to highlight signs of
weakness.
Scorn from fans
There was scorn from some
fans when they heard the Scot
admit old rivals Liverpool were
favourites for a game at Old
trafford. It was the kind of
statement that might even be
true, but saying it seemed to be a
step too far for the supporters.
By the end, they were sick of
hearing United would “try their
best” to win matches. “What
was all that about?” said Brane.
“Everton might try. Manchester
United don© t try, they do it.”
Van Gaal should have no such
problems. If he suffers from
insecurity, he does a pretty good
job of disguising it.
Before the World Cup,
as speculation about his
appointment grew, he called
one English reporter “stupid”
for asking what he felt was a
ridiculous question.
And in his first United news
conference he cut down another
Wayne Rooney
in equally forthright manner
for putting forward a question
he believed had already been
answered.
“You know that, why do you
ask?” came the reply.
But perhaps the most telling
difference between Van Gaal and
Moyes was hidden away in the
small print.
A 16-minute interview he
gave to a couple of members of
the broadcast media ran to 1 180
words.
The word “try” was not used
once. — BBCOnline.