MARCOS ROJO: MAN UTD'S NECESSARY PANIC BUY

Manchester United are about to seal a deal for Sporting Lisbon's Argentine left-back, Marcos Rojo, in a forced late window signing due to their shortcomings in defence. At €20m, this represents a gamble but it is an understandable one.

D. Ray Morton, 19th August 2014.

 

Argentina's Marcos Rojo is set to join Manchester United for a fee of €20m from Sporting Lisbon in the coming days

The English Premier League kicked off this weekend and it turned out that most of the top teams started their campaigns with wins. North London duo Arsenal and Tottenham both picked up victories against Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively though Everton were held by newly-promoted Leicester on Saturday. Sunday saw Liverpool and Manchester City get past Southampton and Newcastle whilst Chelsea beat Burnley on the road last night. Prior to all of these results, however, Manchester United started off the season with a miserable 1-2 humbling in their own backyard at the hands of Swansea City. The performance was poor from start to finish apart from a brief spell in which they had equalised yet Gylfi Siggurðson put them to the sword with a finely worked winner. United's performance still had that Moyesian feeling about it. Weak in front of their home fans, a lack of fight demonstrated.

They lined up in a 3-5-2 formation as expected based on their pre-season. The back three drew red flags before a ball was even kicked. Tyler Blackett, a débutante, started alongside Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. The three had the task of marking Swansea's lone striker, Wilfried Bony, meaning that there was an unnecessary amount of cover in an area the Swans did not intend to dominate. Instead, United's midfield had a man less and the visitors were able to pick them apart through efficiency of central possession. They broke in unison and found it relatively easy to pick off Louis van Gaal's men. In desperation, they changed to something along the lines of a 4-4-2 in the second half but this meant that Ashley Young would have to play at left-back, an experiment which should never be repeated. The fecal matter unleashed by the overflying bird into his mouth, as captured by the Vines of social media enthusiasts, was nearly fitting.

Manchester United's new manager was left stumped by their poor performance against Swansea City and may get more annoyed if the club do not secure some vital transfer targets before the window slams shut on August 31st

Van Gaal must be pretty frustrated at the lack of transfer activity coming from the club. Ed Woodward appears to be in charge of such matters and, like last summer, he is proving to be out of his depth. This is a man who is good at negotiating corporate sponsorship deals, not signing top level talent from around Europe and the rest of the world. Only Ander Herrera, who failed to impress on Saturday, and the injured Luke Shaw have arrived. This is set to change with only eleven more days of transfer window time left. Argentina's World Cup silver medallist Marcos Rojo is being lined up, a desperate reinforcement for a rickety back-line. With key targets like Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Ajax's Daley Blind missed, it is imperative that they get players of any reasonable standard in quickly.

Rojo is of a fine standard it should be pointed out. Whether that standard meets the touted €20m transfer fee is another question. Though he was seen as a potential weak link in Argentina's starting XI in Brazil, he had a very good tournament scoring a goal in the process. He is also coming off the back of his best ever domestic season with Sporting Lisbon where he made twenty-five appearances and scored four goals in the Portuguese top flight. He was deployed as a left-back in Alejandro Sabella's side but United fans should be aware that the 1.86cm defender can also play as a centre-half giving some much-needed versatility.

This move is a gamble but a necessary one and there may be a few more within the next week and a half of this transfer window. United have got the money and are ready and willing to pay a bit over the odds for numbers in their squad. Selling clubs know that they are desperate and this is far from an ideal start of the Louis van Gaal era. There are other areas where they need strengthening, central midfield being the obvious one still, and it should be fascinating to see if the Old Trafford club spend a fortune on getting a legitimate world star in before Sky Sports News' Jim White calls an end to transfer proceedings come midnight on August 31st.

MINI-HIT: BECKS, RODGERS & JANUZAJ ON VAN GAAL WAGON

MINI-HIT: BECKS, RODGERS & JANUZAJ ON VAN GAAL WAGON

D. Ray Morton, 21st May 2014.

Van Gaal seems to be universally backed at the moment

Aside from Jose Mourinho's prior, almost predictable, slap on the back towards new Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal (Barca buddies!), it's interesting to see other soccer personalities' views. David Beckham is full of praise, encouraged by LvG's promotion of youth products. Brendan Rodgers is looking forward to challenging one of the great senior European managers and had glowing respect towards new assistant manager, Ryan Giggs. Adnan Januzaj hopes to excel under the new boss although it will be interesting to see how he fits into his 4-3-3 system.

VAN GAAL WILL BRING NECESSARY EGO TO UNITED

D. Ray Morton, 16th May 2014.

Van Gaal will not join Manchester United to win a popularity contest

It has not been made official yet but Manchester United are set to announce outgoing Netherlands national manager Louis van Gaal as their next permanent boss. Interim manager Ryan Giggs is likely to be offered an assistant manager's role but is also likely to be a member of the playing staff for one last season. The move follows what has been a tumultuous season for the Manchester club having seen their status as defending Premier League champions ripped from their grasps and having to suffer the indignity of a seventh-place finish after David Moyes' disastrous reign in charge.

Van Gaal's media handling style is very different to Moyes'. He will not be intimidated by hard questions and prefers to put the interviewer on the spot rather than fall victim like a deer in the headlights as Moyes looked last season. His arrogance is well known but his knowledge of the game is formidable and deserves respect. When he eventually walks into that Old Trafford dressing room for the first time, senior players will be well aware of the fact that van Gaal has swept up many trophies throughout his managerial career.

Though he has had success at Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and is in charge of the Dutch national team for a second spell, perhaps United fans will look at his two stints as Barcelona manager to see the best and worst of the man known as the "Iron Tulip". Taking charge of the Catalan club between 1997-2000, van Gaal brought about a return to beautiful possession football which had been lost under previous coach Bobby Robson.

Under his tenure, Barcelona stayed true to their aesthetic playing style although they, somewhat like rivals Real Madrid, decided to splash large amounts of cash at the same time. A drove of former Ajax players were hauled in as well as smart signings like Rivaldo and Luis Figo, two players who went on to win the Balon d'Or largely thanks to their blossoming under van Gaal. Young players were given a chance too. Perhaps the likes of Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez may never have become the world class players they became without van Gaal's guiding hand.

Luis Figo became a world renowned superstar under LVG at Barca

There were clashes with big personalities too, however, and do not be surprised if he falls out with a few stars next season. Van Gaal believes in the efforts of the collective, total football where everyone chips in with a shift. United will be expected to play 4-3-3, pressing high up the pitch maintaining a very sharp level of fitness, something Moyes struggled with. Anyone who does not put in the effort will be kicked to the curb. He had notorious clashes with Hristo Stoichkov early on in his Barca reign and later with Rivaldo who he felt had lost his positional discipline which, in turn, hurt the team.

Other, arguably more humble, players have great praise for van Gaal's methods, however, and realising his vision and what he demands are what will benefit United next season. Xavi and Andres Iniesta have nothing but compliments towards the towering Dutchman, two great players known for appreciating the value of teamwork.

Transfer targets have been identified. Luke Shaw is sure to come and van Gaal has named Roma's Kevin Strootman, Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Bayern's Toni Kroos as three players he would like to see the club approach as he takes care of the World Cup where the Netherlands find themselves in a tough group with defending champions Spain, dark horses Chile and, whipping boys but potential banana skin, Australia. Choosing a club captain could also be a conundrum. Van Gaal is a fan of Robin van Persie's and may snub the club's promise to make Wayne Rooney the on-field man in charge.

Roma's Kevin Strootman has been named as a key target for van Gaal's vision of United

So should van Gaal immediately command the respect of the dressing room and secure some key signings, there's no reason why United cannot shoot straight into a title challenge in the coming campaign. LVG, for the most part, dominated La Liga when he was in charge at Barca (apart from that badly-conceived second spell in 2002-03) routinely trumping Madrid to the league title with games to spare. Should United's squad gravitate towards his methods, it's not long before the Old Trafford faithful sees success again. City, Liverpool and Chelsea, watch out!