Manchester United had only four games left before the end of the season when a crucial loss to Everton served as the last straw for the club’s owners, and led to the release of David Moyes as head coach for the Reds.
It had been a long and difficult season for the former Premier League champions; Manchester United. With David Moyes in charge, the Red Devils struggled with injuries all season and failed to impress their fans with losses across multiple competitions. A 4 – 2 loss over two legs against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, A 2 – 1 loss against Swansea in the FA Cup, a penalty kick shootout loss after a 3 – 3 draw against Sunderland in the Capital One Cup, and a disappointing seventh place finish in the Premier League, resulted in a near trophy-less season for United. The only piece of Silverware that the Reds were able to secure throughout their 2013-2014 campaign was the Community Shield back in August with a 2 – 0 victory over Wigan Athletic.
One trophy however wasn’t enough to keep David Moyes his job, who prior to being the boss at Old Trafford, was the manager at Everton. After the loss to Moyes’ former club, United’s hierarchy did not hesitate to fire the Welshman and put Ryan Giggs in charge as their interim manager while negotiations with other coaches continued. Finally, on May 19, 2014, the “Party Beast” Louis Van Gaal became the “Party Devil” as he was named the new manager for United after signing a three year contract with the club. Ryan Giggs was also appointed as Van Gaal’s assistant manager after confirming his retirement as a player on the same day.
Van Gaal has been widely known for his strict coaching methods and has even been dubbed by some “Van Hitler”. He has also been reported to discourage “fun” behaviors and to have zero tolerance with “diva” players but encourages the players to “play a little with their women” when they get bored. Luca Toni, who played for Bayern Munich when Van Gaal began his successful campaign at the club, reports that on the first day in charge he warned the club’s “stars” that he was not afraid to drop any player from the squad and he had “the balls” to do so. Van Gaal then proceeded to drop his pants and expose himself to the club in order to prove a point. Louis Van Gaal’s methods although some deem them harsh are certainly effective as we saw through Bayern Munich’s rise to becoming the European power house today.
Louis Van Gaal certainly is a change in coaching technique for a club such as United, who saw great results under the long reign of Sir Alex Ferguson as manager. Sir Alex Ferguson took the time to relate to all of his players and make sure everyone was happy. Louis Van Gaal seems to have an opposite approach to handling players and seems like he will most likely take a more dictating approach to getting his desired results. It will be interesting to see how the players respond to such a big change in managing methods and with a new head coach, players who struggled for first team football under Moyes such as Chicharito Hernandez, Shinji Kagawa, and Nani, could possibly see this as a chance to swoop up a first team spot rather than to look for a new club.
The only thing we can be sure of is that changes are coming to United under “The Party Beast” Van Gaal and they are coming fast. Whether they are just changes in behaviors of current players, or a complete overturning of the club’s roster, Manchester United fans can rest assured that an interesting season is sure to follow Van Gaal’s appointment as manager.
Picture by Jamie Jackson