UNITED GO DUTCH

We've known it for quite a while, but earlier this week, Manchester United confirmed Luis van Gaal as their new manager. With Ryan Giggs taking up the deputy position, many Reds cannot wait for next season to start.

For the first time since Sir Alex retired, it really does feel like United are in capable hands. That is not least because of the CV of the current Dutch manager. Luis van Gaal is one of the more respected European coaches in the game.  I guess managing Ajax, Bayern and Barca, helps. Crucially though, he is the closest to Sir Alex as there is on the market.

It's been said that a lot of the current crop have gotten alittle comfortable at Old Trafford and hence the need to move a huge chunk on. When it comes to introducing a philosophy and building a dynasty, none is better than the current Holland coach. It is no suprise then that he was responsible for laying the foundations of the recent Barca and Bayern dominance of European football. His 4-3-3  high pressure, passing game will be a shot to the arm to the uninspiring levels that Unired teached under David Moyes.

The downside is sometimes LVG can get so full of himself that a club can collapse under the pull of his ego----yes, it's that big! From the moment he names his captain, you can bet that it will be box office for Sky.
You do feel though that he is the type of character that Manchester United need to quickly recover from a nightmare season.

From a cynical perspective, his appointment makes for a box office season in terms of his relationship with the media. Most of us had gotten too comfortable with how Sir Alex handled the press that we forgot what it meant to read quotes of assurrance every weekend. David Moyes certainly did his part to ensure we quickly missed the old Scott quickly in that respect.

Ultimately, it's hard to imagine United worse than they were last season. Replacing the fellow that replaced Sir Alex was always going to be eassier than replacing the fiery Scott.

Hopefully we've ridden our storm, or at least the worst of it.

The news of the managerial appointment sort of clouded the retirement of United's man for all seasons. I will not do the injustice of covering his retirement in this post. The next one is dedicated to him.

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