Someone's having a real laugh - butthead?

[Clem H Fandango]

The nephew of the boss at work bet me £50 today that they would finish above us.

 

I couldn't believe my ears and shook on it with witnesses.

 

He's so pissed off with my gloating it must have really got to him and broken him mentally. I asked him if he's watching the draw tmw and he reckons we'll be out of the champions league in January...I said i don't give a fuck, we will still be in europe with the europa league what the fuck have your lot got?

[Kant]

Buying money there, bro. Good work.

Keep sticking it to the Mancs

[Dr Nowt]

Off Twitter.

 

[Iceman]

The next few signings they make are crucial. If they get Vidal and someone decent in defence, they won't look too bad. It all depends on the system he goes with. If he digs his heels in and sticks to the 3-5-2 they will have problems but chances are he will switch it, he surely can't be that stubborn under these circumstances.

[JagSquared]

Yeah he will end up at 433 surely. Saw on BBC that rojo hasn't had his work permit yet. I didn't think they needed To bother with them historically. They really are losing their touch. The gossip column also saying Vidal wants to stay.

[Mcfaggen]

The nephew of the boss at work bet me £50 today that they would finish above us.

 

I was in a bar with a Malaysian ManU supporter and a Northern Irish Chelsea Supporter a week or so ago. The Manc has offered us both 3 hours of free beer if Manchester United don't win the league. 

 

Read that again. 

[PestiRed]

Why is Louis van Gaal so hell-bent on using 3-5-2 at Manchester United?

Purchase of Angel di María suggests Old Trafford manager is going to stick with the formation at United

 

 

Jonathan Wilson

The Guardian, Friday 29 August 2014 13.00 BST

 

 

The question, often, is not the what or the how but the why. On Sunday, after Manchester United had staggered to a 1-1 draw against Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers had been hammered 4-0 by Tottenham, there was much carping about 3-5-2, the formation United had used in taking one point from their first two Premier League games of the season, and QPR in losing both their opening matches.

 

That Hull City had played 3-5-2 in beating QPR and had been 1-0 up with 3-5-2 against Stoke City when James Chester was sent off tended to be overlooked amid the carping. It is rarely the system to blame, but the personnel and their application of it.

 

The biggest question about Louis van Gaal’s immediate implementation of 3-5-2 is the why. It was a formation that worked for him at the World Cup, but he only adopted it in March, almost as a last resort. Kevin Strootman, who had been key to his midfield, was badly injured in a friendly away to France in which Bruno Martins Indi was tormented by Karim Benzema.

 

Troubled by his defenders’ ability to handle one-on-one situations, Van Gaal went to watch three of them play for Feyenoord against PSV Eindhoven. They lined up in a 3-5-2, the extra man in the middle at the back meaning one-on-one situations were minimised, and that, he realised, was the answer. That the system was right for Holland can – if you judge on results, which not all the Dutch do – hardly be denied, but why did that make it right for Manchester United?

 

The reason a back three fell largely into disuse in the first decade of this century was the prevalence of teams playing with a lone forward. Deploying three defenders against two forwards meant – even in a zonal system – two markers plus a spare man. One marker plus two spare men was overkill: one of those spare men was redundant and effectively gave the opponent an extra man in midfield.

 

There have been three basic reasons for the return of the back three. In Italy, where wingers remain rare, it is seen as a way of adding attacking width without sacrificing players in the centre. Some, accepting they will cede the bulk of possession, like having that extra man at the back, seeing the additional defender not as a redundant player but as extra security.

 

And, more proactively, some recognise in the 3-5-2 the capacity to get an extra man into midfield, which can be advantageous to pressing, the maintenance of possession, or both. Chile’s use of the back three at the World Cup was largely for reason three; Van Gaal’s for reason two, although with elements of three.

 

So why at United? Why, almost before looking at his squad, while insisting every player started with a blank slate and he was using the pre-season tour of the US as a learning process, and with six weeks of the transfer window remaining to add reinforcements, did Van Gaal apparently decide he would stick with the 3-5-2 he had used in the World Cup?

 

It was not thoughtless idealism, sticking to a philosophy come what may; above all else, he is a pragmatist, and, besides, 3-5-2 only became his preferred shape in March.

 

Although he used a 4-4-2 at times with AZ and Bayern, Van Gaal has tended to prefer to use three men in central midfield. Even with a 4–4–2, he tended to have one forward – Thomas Müller or Ivica Olic – who could drop back to become an additional midfielder if required. Three in midfield, even if one of them is a slight luxury such as Wesley Sneijder, offers security and flexibility. Besides which, looking at United’s squad, Van Gaal can not have seen any potential pairing that would prove adequate in central midfield – a problem that haunted David Moyes last season and was a concern long before that.

 

So he wanted three in midfield but how to do that when United’s obvious strength is the front two of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney? They may not necessarily be great as a partnership, but they are both, when fit, clearly among United’s four or five best players. Both have played wide in their careers, but neither enjoys it so to accommodate the pair, they have to be used as a central partnership. Perhaps in the long term there are better solutions, but there are other issues that require more immediate attention.

 

Rooney could be used as the central player of three in a 4-2-3-1, foraging back when required, but where does that then leave Juan Mata, Shinji Kagawa and Adnan Januzaj? That would leave United needing wingers – and Van Gaal has made clear he is not impressed with the options available. A 3-5-2, though, permits both a midfield three and a front two (the other option would be a 4-4-2 diamond, but United lack an obvious holding midfielder who could become a de facto third centre-back when the full-backs advance), even if it does require significant defensive readjustment – and it may be that Van Gaal underestimated the unfamiliarity of British defenders with the system.

 

Angel di María is presumably seen as a player to operate – as he did last season – on the left of a midfield three. Self-sacrificing and tactically intelligent, he was perfect for the role, going wide when Cristiano Ronaldo came infield, dropping back to cover when Marcelo or Fábio Coentrão charged forwards. He is also a master at leading counterattacks, with a keen sense of when to carry the ball and when to play the pass. Without a wide player beyond him, his role will be different at United, but it is easy to imagine him covering for a wing-back’s foray or linking up with Rooney when he drifts left.

 

What is intriguing now is that Van Gaal, having decided early on 3-5-2, seems to be making signings to stick to it. Although Di María can play just as well in a 4-3-3, either as a midfielder or a forward, or in a 4‑2‑3‑1, it would seem odd if Marcos Rojo has not been signed as the left-sided of three centre-backs. Although he can operate at full-back, as he showed at the World Cup, it would seem strange for United to invest £16m in a player having already spent double that on another player in the same position.

 

It may be, of course, that Rojo ends up playing at centre-back, or that he keeps Luke Shaw out of the side, or that he does not play at all. Van Gaal will do what it takes to win, even if that means ostracising the expensive or the high-profile. That’s the how. The why, though, is the combination of a recent convert to a different shape and his inheritance of a squad that was incomprehensibly unbalanced.

Why? Because he's a cunt, Jonathan. Now hush and sit back to enjoy the ride

[JustTosh]

I was in a bar with a Malaysian ManU supporter and a Northern Irish Chelsea Supporter a week or so ago. The Manc has offered us both 3 hours of free beer if Manchester United don't win the league. 

 

Read that again. 

What is it with those mancs? They're a source of free winning bets. In the 2012-13 season after Luis' ban for trying to have a snack off Ivanovic's arm,I had a bet with a manc: He claimed we would'nt score more than 3 goals total for the rest of the season. 4+ goals and I'd win. Our next game was Newcastle away. Nuff said.

[deiseach]

They lay them off with Fred Done, the cunt

[Mook]

My manc mate and I have a grand bet that Liverpool will win another European Cup before those cunts make 5. We made it two years ago.

 

Looking quite good now.

[ZonkoVille77]

2 points from 3 games. World cup winner and tactical genius Louis van Moyes strikes again.

[TheDrowningMan]

I wonder how many fans they've shed globally since mid-August.

[Pidge]

My manc mate and I have a grand bet that Liverpool will win another European Cup before those cunts make 5. We made it two years ago.

 

Looking quite good now.

 

Get planning that summer holiday.

[Ginny]

What's the deal with Butthead and refusing to shake the opposing managers hand and waiting for them to come to him. Who does this guy think he is. What an arrogant prick.

[Sugar Ape]

What's the difference between Man Utd and a triangle? A triangle has 3 points.

 

Badum tish.

[KMD7]

 

Ripped from Facebook

 

Jennifer Anniston has as many points as Man Utd.

 

 

[Mathewbet1]

[Reckoner]

Another draw, their getting a bit of a run together now, 2 league games undefeated.

[Jairzinho]

 

Ripped from Facebook

 

Jennifer Anniston has as many points as Man Utd.

 

But far fewer tits.

[KMD7]

But far fewer tits.

Haha!

[Denny Crane]

 

He's enjoying himself hopefully thinking about his good friend Roy if the ship needs steadying.

[Trumo]

 

He's enjoying himself hopefully thinking about his good friend Roy if the ship needs steadying.

 

Let's let Van Gaal or whoever sink it to the bottom of the ocean and then the Owl can keep it there. He can then tell the world just how difficult a job it is to steady something that was already sitting at the bottom of the ocean while watching a 50m long squid float by along with those fish that have massive sharp teeth and lamps on their nose.

[Ne Moe Imya]

[Dr Nowt]

Let's let Van Gaal or whoever sink it to the bottom of the ocean and then the Owl can keep it there. He can then tell the world just how difficult a job it is to steady something that was already sitting at the bottom of the ocean while watching a 50m long squid float by along with those fish that have massive sharp teeth and lamps on their nose.

 

Sounds like Van Gaal.

[cloggypop]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMd1GEzHMWo