Paul Scholes looks to have changed his mind about Louis van Gaal.
On March 4, the former Manchester United midfielder appeared on BT’s Fletch & Sav, after the side’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United, and had some choice words for Louis van Gaal.
‘Watching that interview, he looks really happy to me to be fourth,’ Scholes said about the United manager.’This is a club that needs to be challenging to win the league’. While, in February, Scholes said that United are ‘miserable’ to watch, saying: ‘I am struggling to watch Louis van Gaal’s team’
Well, this week, after the team’s 1-2 loss at home to Arsenal, Scholes has seemingly completely changed his mind about Van Gaal, instead questioning the players.
‘Watching United at Old Trafford on Monday, I know what Louis van Gaal is trying to do with this team,’ Scholes said in his weekly column in the Independent. ‘I do like the concept. I just question whether he has the players to do it’.
‘In recent weeks, Van Gaal has tried what I would describe as a more Barcelona-style approach to games. His centre-backs push wide, the full-backs push on and the team pass the ball. It has worked against the weaker teams but it is against the stronger sides, starting with Spurs and the high-pressing game they play, that you have to wonder whether it will be found out’.
‘To play this way, you really need to be exceptional. Barcelona can do it because they have the players and they have been playing this way for years. United have spent around £220m in the last three transfer windows and yet I would question whether they have the players to operate this system’.
‘What I find hard to understand is how, in March, United are playing another new style with no evidence that they have the personnel to do it. Managers live and die by their recruitment. You buy the right players for the system that you believe will be successful. I don’t believe that the club have achieved that balance.
‘I still believe that Van Gaal is the right man for the job. I don’t think he will change his mind about the way he wants the team to play. He is a stubborn man and that is no bad thing in football. But I am afraid to say that if he wants to play this Barcelona style then the club will have to go back into the transfer market this summer to get the players they need to do it’.
Tune-in next week, when Scholes will probably have changed his mind about Van Gaal, again.
