Manchester United - The Dutch Revolution

Three depart as van Gaal balances the books

Luis Nani, Darren Fletcher and Ashley Young are the first three to leave Manchester United under Louis van Gaal, for a total fee of 26 million.

All three players positions were under threat due to the formation change that van Gaal introduced and the incoming players such as Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera. They have all moved on to reputable clubs for a combined fee of 26 million pounds which is a decent total for the three players in all.

Luis Nani, 27, moved from Manchester United to Monaco after the club submitted an offer just as Nani was placed on the transfer list and van Gaal immediately accepted the offer as it was a good sum and would cut down the wage bill. Nani was very happy with the decision and agreed a contract with Monaco as he knew he would get playing time and feature in the Champions League this season. Nani said this before he left for France;

"I want to thank Manchester United for the few great years I've had here at this club. They are without doubt the best club in England I want to wish them well for the upcoming season. I understand the decision to sell me and now I'm looking forward to the many challenges ahead of me at Monaco."

Darren Fletcher, 29, has moved to Newcastle where he hopes to get more first team football. Fletcher has been with the club for his whole professional career but he believes that the move is best as there are many younger and fitter players at the club now and he thinks it's the right time to move on in his career as he knows first team football is at a limit now at the club. Before moving to Newcastle, the Scottish midfielder spoke to MUTV to give a thank you message to the club;

"It's been a very tough 24 hours for me, but I believe it is the right time for me to move on. I've been with this club all my life and it pains to say that I'm leaving but it's for the best. Louis has brought in some exceptional players who are younger and fitter than me which he is undoubtedly going to play more. I've had such a wonderful career here and I'm going to miss it a lot. I want to thank the club for being with me throughout my career, my team-mates for giving me such a wonderful experience and all the Manchester United fans for sticking with me and supporting me."

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And finally Ashley Young has sealed his move to Newcastle like Fletcher after van Gaal clearly stated to the player that he was not part of his plans and he should except he won't get any playing time if he stayed at the club. Young is determined to get his career back on track and rebuild his reputation after many accounts of diving make him one of the most hated Premier League footballers of this time. Young had this to say before heading to Newcastle;

"I'd like to thank the club for the great years I've had here. They've supported me through some of the bad times in my career and I hope they do well under Louis van Gaal for this upcoming season as they do not deserve to be out of the Champions League."

These are just three of the players players potentially leaving as Louis van Gaal has stated he wants to get rid of 'deadwood' before the season begins. Tom Cleverley looks likely to leave next but Manchester United have not confirmed his departure yet, with Everton re-portably interested in getting the midfielders signature.

Great sum of money for those three players!

Great write-up Joshie
Always good to move on the deadwood at the club, and bring in a nice amount of money in the process

Probably the right decision to let those players leave - and some decent money for them, too!

@Tallery: Agreed.

@Joshie: Thanks a lot man! Yep. Nani and Young are useless, sad about Fletch but the money was too good to turn down.

@Walt: Yeah, I think so do.

The Tactic

Here at Manchester United, I will be playing my usual formation, the 3-4-1-2. This consists of three centre halves who duties will be simply to defend, two attacking wing-backs with one needing to track back more. Two midfielders, one who wins the ball, and one who plays the ball. An attacking playmaker, who needs to find the forward two and give them an opportunity to score. And finally, one attacking forward and one target man. It is simple.

If the players do not agree with this, then they are no longer my players. I am the manager here and what I say goes. They will need time to learn this and I am sure they will, but much preparation is needed for the season ahead. We have players in this squad which are simply not good enough, and they will need to either show me what they gave contribute or leave through the nearest exit, no other choices.

Last season, Manchester United lacked leadership from the helm. David Moyes has no clue at all, which led his team to lose confidence and eventually lose their ability on the pitch, This is the season where that will change. Below is my tactic I will be using this season. I have brought in the necessary players to make this formation work. I am confident that they will not fail me.

The tactic is simple, but effective as you all saw when we blitzed Spain in Brazil. I will have my goalkeeper, David de Gea, filling the usual goalkeeper duties. He will need to communicate well with his back three and only charge the attackers if needs be. I do not agree with the use of sweeper keepers, as too many penalties are given for using them.

My back three will consist of Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. I believe these three have very good communication skills with each other and with time spent training, they can become very good centre halves. I brought in Stefan and Samuel to mainly cover this position if needs be, as I know Stefan is comfortable with the use of this formation and Samuel is strong enough to adapt to this tactical change. We also have young Michael Keane available to play as a centre half as I believe he has the potential to do well using this formation.

For my two wing backs, I will be using Luke Shaw and Rafael. They are both young, yes, but they are very good going forward and are capable of doing their defensive duties. I watched some video tapes with them both on their performances last season and the way my two full-backs played in Brazil. That is another reason I brought in Daley, as I know if Luke struggles playing as a wing back in the early stages of the season, Daley can show him how to perform well there. Antonio will also be a cover for Rafael as I've got him to train as a right wing back as I think he has the right attributes needed for that position.

For my two midfielders, it is a hard choice. I think I am going to use Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba in these two positions. Paul will play as a ball winning midfielder, as I know he can tackle well and track back if needed to. Ander has some quality passing which I believe can be used the best under the deep lying playmaker role. I have countless options to fill these positions if either get injured, with Marouane, Michael, Tom, Shinji and Phil all capable of playing here. I am unsure on the futures of both Tom and Shinji, it remains to be seen what I will do with them as they will only be fringe players if they do stay.

My attacking playmaker position is best filled by Juan Mata. He is possibly one of the best around in that position and I believe when used here he can be lethal. David Moyes used him out on a wing, like Shinji, which is where no number 10 should play. I also have young Adnan to fill this position which I believe he can if Juan or Shinji get injured. I will play Adnan more in cup games to improve his fitness and get matches under his belt. He is a very good player but both Juan and Shinji are currently better than the young Belgian.

And finally my two forwards, who are very important in this formation. I will be playing Robin and Wayne up top as they have the best partnership out of all the forwards I have available to me. Robin will be my advanced forward as he is very lethal in any position within 30 yards of the opponents goal. Wayne is like this too, but possesses more strength than Robin which is why I believe he would be more suited to the target man role. I also have Javier and Danny to play these two positions, but also young James Wilson, who I believe has a big future at this club. He will mainly feature in cup games unless he gets in inspired form.

This is my tactic, and this tactic, will win us the Premier League.

Great write up!

Great detailed analysis on the tactic mate! Can't wait for you to get the season started.

Tactic looks very nice. Hopefully it can produce some great attacking football whilst getting the desired results. Can we see the shouts, too?

Ohh great update, this tactic is great if you want to get results (trust me I'm Dutch).

Great update, very detailed write-up!

"This is my tactic, and this tactic, will win us the Premier League."

"This is my tactic, and this tactic, will win us the Premier League."

nah ur alrite m8

@Tallery: Thank you.

@MCox: Thanks! I can't wait for the season to begin either!

@Walt: Thanks Walt, that's the plan, but we want to stay strong defensively too. I'll PC you the shouts.

@ASR: Thanks pal! Haha I hope you are right!

@Joshie: Thank you very much Joshie!

@Pauks: k den.

van Persie set to miss the start of the season

The Netherlands and Manchester United star Robin van Persie has been ruled out for a few months with what is suspected to be a broken foot.

The forward had a sublime World Cup with his country but picked up a knock during a training session there, later to be revealed that he had damaged his foot. Manchester United confirmed on the clubs official Twitter than van Persie would be out of action for a 'few months' with what is suspected to be a broken foot.

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van Persie will be a huge miss for United when the season begins after the forward was the key man two years ago when Manchester United won the league for the last time under Sir Alex Ferguson, however van Gaal believes that his injury gives others a chance to impress him due to the length of van Persie's injury;

"It is a shame that Robin will miss the start of the season, as he is without doubt a very important player for us, however, his injury can bring out a couple of positives as it gives the others a chance to impress me within the first couple of months such as Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez and James Wilson. These three will all be given a chance to show me what they can do whilst Robin is recovering."

The club begin there pre-season tomorrow as they play the under 21's in an intra-squad friendly. van Gaal believes that if the club have a good pre-season, they can challenge for the League Title as preparation is the key to success for the experienced Dutchman, with the club having a heavily congested pre-season ahead of them;

"We will be having a long pre-season in the upcoming weeks which I think is good, as to win a league title, you need to prepare yourself for the gruelling challenges ahead. I need every player fit before the start of the season unless like Robin, they are injured. We will be practising my formation over the course of pre-season which I hope the squad will adapt to well."

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van Persie will of course be a huge miss for United however many pundits believe this could be the big breakthrough season for Danny Welbeck as he will have a big chance to prove himself as a main forward. It remains to be seen how the young England forward does within pre-season.

Excellent layout, love the Twitter thingo!