Players believing in van Gaal's philosophy has led to the great start for Manchester United.
Manchester United players believing in Louis van Gaal's system which is the main reason why they are undefeated in the league so far.
A club like Manchester United are used to winning trophies and to sticking by a certain philosophy, like Sir Alex Ferguson had when he managed the club to it's best years of success. Sir Alex played a traditional 4-4-2 and had a good mix of youth and experience in the team, which worked wonders. The fans and players believed in his system which then gave the whole squad the confidence needed to win many honours.
Similar to Sir Alex, van Gaal has won over the players and the fans into believing his 3-5-2 system is the one to stick by for many seasons, and after a great start in the league, the confidence has brought on many more victories leaving the club top of the table heading into November. But the question on many fans lips is how is this formation working so well? Well, I can attempt to answer that.
After watching Holland play in Brazil with van Gaal's 3-5-2 tactic, it took a lot of teams by surprise. The most important parts of that formation are the wing-backs, as they provide the needed width down the wings, as seen by the amount of goals scored from assists by the Dutch wing-backs which were Daley Blind and Daryl Janmaat. The defenders were all covering for when the wing-backs advanced forward and having that one commanding centre back which was Ron Vlaar allowed the Dutch to keep it solid at the back.
Speaking of Daley Blind, van Gaal has brought in the players needed for that formation to work,along with Blind, he has purchased many new faces, most notably French midfielder Paul Pogba, who has really sharpened up their midfield. Although both Pogba and fellow Frenchman Umtiti, cost the club a combined total of 47 million, they have many years left in their careers to improve even further, which is the reason why van Gaal invested in them. Both Blind and De Vrij in my opinion are great signings not only because of their fee, but a because they are familiar to van Gaal's 3-5-2 from the World Cup.
van Gaal's new signings are already making a good impression on the Manchester United fans.
The formation also has a player who plays behind the striker, which Juan Mata has filled since the start of the season. He has been very important to United's game as he has the ability to find the forward two of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney. We saw Sneijder play there for Holland in the World Cup and he got so many assists as he's given the freedom to roam around behind the strikers. Adnan Januzaj has also started to play there in cup matches and he could make for a very good number 10 in the future.
Although there is still many months left in the season, I see United challenging for the title, they have got a very balanced and powerful squad which is capable of achieving anything. If they keep key players such as Mata, Rooney and Pogba fit, they could stream roll the league. Their main threat is Manchester City, as after their title winning season they are stronger than ever before and will pose trouble to United when the sides meet twice in the league for the annual Manchester Derby.
All I know for certain is that it's going to be a much better season than last and we could be seeing the United of old return.