Louis van Gaal has insisted he has no problem changing Manchester United’s 3-5-2 system after adding six players during the summer transfer window.
The manager switched to the formation on taking over yet he is still seeking a first Premier League win after taking only two points from nine. With Ángel di María, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao arriving in the final days of the window to join Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera and Marcos Rojo, Van Gaal was asked if it would be easy or difficult to adopt a new shape.
“It’s not difficult I think to change the formation, because when we buy a player we also see the positions he can play in other systems,” he said. “When you see what we have bought, you can see that.”
Despite the disappointing start Van Gaal denied he would change his philosophy if this form continued, though the Dutchman did concede he may change his “idea” if results did not alter after a month.
“That’s another question. I’m always for evaluation, I’m not only evaluating the players but I’m evaluating myself and my staff. Now we have a lot of injuries so I’m evaluating why and I changed my preparation scheme because of that. I have changed also what we have to do after the match, I have changed the schedule of times. I am always evaluating myself. That philosophy has brought a lot of titles, I’m sorry to say that.
“I don’t think that [the system] is the most important thing. The important thing is philosophy and that’s always the same.”
Pressed what the philosophy was, whether it might include a particular mentality or mode of play, Van Gaal said: “It’s not only a mode of play, it’s the way we are treating players, the way we are building up training sessions, the way we have to do our rehabilitation, the process, the steps that you have to make, it’s a lot of things. “But one of the most important things is I’m seeing the players not only as football players but as human beings.”
Despite now having a particular abundance of attacking players – Falcao and Di María join Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Juan Mata, Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson – Van Gaal has no concerns regarding how to accommodate them.
“I observe and then decide. I don’t have any worries about that. I’ve done that for more than 25 years,” he said. “We shall see who is playing tomorrow. For a coach it is always easy because he can decide and he decides what he sees, at least I do.”
With Falcao yet to complete a match since the serious knee injury that ruled the Colombian out of the World Cup, Van Gaal would not be drawn if the striker would start against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
“For me it’s always important if he fits in the profile that he has to perform, if he is fit enough and what is the quality of the other players,” he said. “So I cannot tell if you he plays or not, because that’s our surprise.”
Van Gaal admits he does not know when Falcao might reach his best level following the injury. “That’s a question we cannot answer. Because that’s also dependable on form, shape and we cannot predict that,” he said.
United had 10 players injured before the international break and Van Gaal has only Shaw returning for QPR’s visit. The biggest loss is Phil Jones, who could be out for a month because of a hamstring injury sustained during England’s 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win in Switzerland.
Of having nine of his squad ruled out, Van Gaal said: “This is a big concern because it’s not nice that I can’t compare the players. Then of course we have to evaluate how we train. But for the level, what I demand as a coach we need to train like that. But the players have to adapt to that level and that’s the crucial thing.”
He still thinks winning the title is achievable. “Yes it is always possible,” he claimed. “We have to play a lot matches and we are not so much behind.”
Source: the Guardian