Even in the world of football management, where self-belief beyond the scope of normal humanity is pretty much standard, the faith of Louis van Gaal in the correctness of Louis van Gaal is daunting in its size and resilience. By this point in his career it’s something that the rest of the world just has to work around and make the best of, like the weather. And like the weather, sometimes it can completely ruin everybody’s day.
Manchester United’s victory over Arsenal amounts to an apology from Louis van Gaal
Earlier in the season, Louis van Gaal made one of the worst misjudgements of his Manchester United career when visiting the Emirates. This Sunday, he made amends.
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With that in mind, then, Sunday afternoon's 3-2 victory over Arsenal was, among other things, particularly interesting. Not just because it was exceptionally funny, thought it was that. Not just because Arsenal could only score twice past a back four comprising a third-choice right back, a second-choice left back and two midfielders, whereas United -- line led by an 18-year-old -- put three past the first-choice defense of a team with pretensions of winning the title. And not just because it's left Tottenham three points clear of their local rivals, and Leicester City two points further ahead.
Beyond all that, it was a 90-minute admission of error. A humble pie of two halves. It was Louis van Gaal walking out onto the pitch, microphone in hand, and bellowing "Mea culpa, lads, mea culpa." You may recall that when Manchester United traveled to the Emirates earlier in the season, they decided to throw away the well-thumbed, much-loved, still-accurate Beating Arsenal For Dummies, by one A. Ferguson, and instead decided to abandon their defensive shape, press high and generally step out to play Arsenal. You may recall that Arsenal, delighted by this idiocy, tore United into tiny bloody chunks and scored three goals in 19 minutes.
When the times comes to tally up van Gaal’s various mistakes at United, that game, back in October, will rank among the strangest. It was important, too: senior players were apparently baffled, and it has been suggested that this was the moment discontent took root in the United dressing room, and so the catalyst for United’s miserable winter. In the fullness of time, then, it might even end up being the game that cost van Gaal his job.
No such nonsense on Sunday. United did what everybody always has to do against Arsenal: they held their shape, they waited for the passing carousel to break down, then exploited the inevitable space to build a move and the inevitable slack marking to finish it. Marcus Rashford's first goal came after Theo Walcott overran the ball inside his own half and United switched play to the right, where Guillermo Varela was running free in yawning isolation. His second came when Francis Coquelin misplaced a pass just outside his own half and United did pretty much the same thing again.
The third, just for a bit of variety, came when Arsenal lost the ball just outside United's box and, though they got cover over to the right this time, they left Ander Herrera entirely unmolested in the middle of the field. Textbook stuff, and given that Arsenal's goals were both extremely soft concessions, the result could have ended up even more one-sided.
Circumstance played its part, of course. When the back four's held together with good will and sticky tape, and when there's even the faintest prospect of a footrace involving Daley Blind or Michael Carrick, then that's not a time to start leaving any space anywhere. Injuries to Wayne Rooney and Marouane Fellaini brought an end to van Gaal's long-running dirty protest up the middle of the park, and Bastian Schweinsteiger's absence meant the manager had no option but to play his two most energetic central midfielders in central midfield. Perhaps, with a full squad, he might have stuck to his guns, tried something elaborate and fallen on his face rather than his back.
Or, being a little more speculative, we might wonder whether this is a sign that van Gaal isn’t really in charge any more. If he truly is heading for dismissal at the end of the season, as most of the press seem to think, then it’s not hard to imagine that the philosophy might be weighing a little more lightly around the neck of his charges. That his instructions don’t carry quite the same import. Certainly, Herrera seems to have decided that he doesn’t need to take a touch before shooting, thank you very much.
In truth, however, he probably just realized that sometimes things are the way they are for a reason. When the weather’s bad, you take an umbrella; when Arsenal are in town, you let them do the hard work. From the point of view of his United career, he’s realized it one game against Arsenal too late, but at least he’s got there in the end. And judging by the giddy sounds pouring out of Old Trafford on Sunday, the crowd were only too happy to accept his apology.
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