Van Gaal pleased with United tactical retooling: ‘I think we can play better with this system’

'With such results you get confidence,' Louis van Gaal said of Manchester United's 7-0 win over LA Galaxy on Wednesday. 'It was fantastic how the boys performed'.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney dribbles of LA Galaxy keeper Jaime Penedo to score on Wednesday in United's 7-0 international friendly win. AP Photo / July 23, 2014
Powered by automated translation

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA // Louis van Gaal’s new-look Manchester United sent a warning to the rest of the Premier League in a 7-0 thrashing of the LA Galaxy.

The Dutchman took control of the team just last week, but his switch to a free-wheeling, attack-oriented formation with only three defenders could prove to be a nightmare for their English opponents, as well as a stark departure from the safety-first, even timid David Moyes system of last season.

Wayne Rooney, Reece James and Ashley Young each scored twice, and Danny Welbeck got the first in the rout of the four-time Major League Soccer champions, who once counted David Beckham in their ranks.

Ander Herrera, in his first appearance in a United shirt since coming over from Athletic Bilbao, assisted each of Young’s goals in the final minutes of the comprehensive victory.

The Rose Bowl, primarily a college football stadium, seats 92,000. It was more than 90 per cent full, with an announced crowd of 86,432, despite the cost of tickets averaging about US$70 (Dh257), climbing to $500 on the secondary market.

As for the contest, it was no contest.

“Always, results matter,” Van Gaal said. “With such results you get confidence, and you get confidence in the new system because we introduced a new system in the training sessions. We have played 11 v 11 twice with the new system, which may not be that much, but the boys are willing to pick up all the information we have given them. They performed fantastic today.”

Of United’s play, Van Gaal said: “Last week I wasn’t at Manchester United and 10 players who played tonight were not at the training complex. When you see us train, you can expect something but not 7-0. That was also a surprise to me. They were all not just beautiful football goals but they were out of beautiful attacks.”

“To win 7-0 is better than losing. Now I don’t have that problem. It was fantastic how the boys performed.”

Asked to expand on the “new system”, essentially variations on a three-back formation, he said: “When you want to change a system you have to start at once because we don’t have time to prepare other things. The other system Man United can play is 4-3-3; they have played this system for many years. I can change this system when it doesn’t work.

“With the quality of the players I have I think we can play better with this system because we have four strikers. For example, when we play 4-3-3, then I have three strikers on the bench and I think that is not good. That is why I want to play with two strikers. Also, we have four number 10s, so the selection is not balanced in my eyes. Because of that, I have decided to play in this system. Only because of the quality of the players, but when that doesn’t work I’ll change it to a 4-3-3.”

Bruce Arena, the Galaxy coach, believes Van Gaal’s tactical approach should yield results in the Premier League.

“They’re playing a style that their manager is very comfortable and familiar with in his career,” Arena said. “They’re playing a back three and some version of a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3, and that’s a big change for a Manchester United club that’s traditionally played 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, at times.

“So it’s a different style, but it looks tactically a lot like what we saw out of the Dutch team in the World Cup. That’s his style of play and I’m sure he’s going to get some new players and be even a little more dangerous going forward, and get the players that fit those tactics in the right way.”

Young, the midfielder, was coy about United’s new look.

“I don’t like to give away too many of our ideas, but obviously when we defend, we defend as a team and when we attack, we attack as a team,” he said. “The fluidity between all the players going around and changing, you can see that in the first half and the second half. We got on the score sheet and we didn’t slow down, so we were going to get more goals.”

Arena had no qualms with United piling on goals. “I have nothing but the greatest respect for the show that they put on. A bunch of guys out there fighting for jobs and it looked that way.”

The visiting celebrities scored three times in the first half. Juan Mata took advantage of some sloppy play in the Galaxy defence to win possession and feed Danny Welbeck for a 25-yard strike off the left post.

It remained 1-0 until Rooney scored twice just ahead of half time, on a penalty and from point-blank range when a routine cross snuck embarrassingly through the legs of Galaxy back Tommy Meyer.

Who should have been the sharper side? The Galaxy are in the middle of their Major League Soccer schedule; United had not played since May, and Van Gaal took over just last week.

James, a 20-year-old reserve midfielder not listed on the United team sheet, got his pair of goals in the second half, as Galaxy resistance collapsed. Young finished the massacre with two goals in the final three minutes against the demoralized hosts, with the help of Herrera.

The Galaxy’s Robbie Keane, who spent more than a decade in the Premier League, was particularly impressed by Herrera. “I thought he was fantastic. I thought he was the best player on the pitch by far.”

The world-renowned club’s swelling ranks of American supporters didn’t wait for the kickoff, starting the party as soon as the parking lots opened.

Fans celebrating the team began arriving on the grounds as much as six hours before the match began. Congregating mainly in a “fun zone” on a lawn south of the stadium, where overpriced merchandise and food booths formed a ring, supporters clad in red sang, bounced, and brandished flags, scarfs and favoured shirts. Rooney. Mata. Van Persie. Best.

United supporters seemed to outnumber Galaxy fans by Germany-over-Brazil proportions.

With United in possession of the ball most of the match, the din remained constant inside the venerable stadium, escalating when goalie De Gea made a save, when midfielder Mata displayed some deft footwork, and so on. If it wasn’t Old Trafford, it was an engaged California crowd. Not always an easy feat pleasing the natives, as local baseball, basketball and football teams can attest.

One day in to the Van Gaal regime, a good time was had by all, with what ought to be a sterner test coming up versus Roma in Denver on Saturday, with Inter and Real Madrid following next week.

sports@thenational.ae

Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE