m-u-f-c Message Board

[Hawkeye]

When it was first mooted that Louis Van Gaal had been considered for the United job, I crossed my fingers and muttered a quiet prayer that it was so. When it was confirmed that the Dutchman had agreed to take the job after his World Cup business was concluded, I whooped with delight and I turned cartwheels when Ryan Giggs agreed to become his second in command. Because I wanted this brilliant and decorated manager in charge of Manchester United. It seemed like a match made in heaven. This guy had won the domestic leagues in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany playing smart fast attractive football, then went back to his homeland and broke the 3-way stranglehold (PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord) of the Eredivisie with unfashionable AZ Alkmaar. He had also guided a youthful Ajax team to the pinnacle of European achievement. He further enhanced his legend by guiding an injury-depleted Netherlands side to within a kick of a ball from the World Cup final (and along the way pulling off one of the ballsiest moves I've ever seen by replacing his goalkeeper before a penalty shoot-out). This guy is going to be a huge success at United we all thought.

But the manager sitting in the dug-out spends the whole game writing in his note pad while his team stutters around, lacking guidance and direction, afraid to express themselves or show the reasons why they commanded 8-figure transfer fees. There's no sign that his mysterious "process" is any closer than it was on the very first day he walked in the door and was welcomed by Sir Bobby Charlton. The league was always going to be a stretch and I think we'd all reconciled ourselves to that fact for a few years. As long as there was visible progress. For the first time in a long time, we were happy enough to compete for the Arsenal trophy (4th) and a decent cup run.

Who is that guy sitting next to Giggs and what has he done with Louis Van Gaal?