Louis Van Gaal's Tactics and Poor Performances Almost Cost Manchester United

When Manchester United's starting line-up was announced, it was easy to joke that Louis van Gaal had chosen to face off against West Ham United using a 4-1-5 formation. 

After all, selecting a side which featured Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao, Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria and Adnan Januzaj meant fitting a lot of attacking players into one team.

(From here on in, with apologies to West Ham fans, "United" refers to Manchester United.)

Partly as a consequence of this selection, United lacked balance and struggled to gain a foothold in the game. In the first 20 minutes, West Ham enjoyed 55.9 percent of possession and had three shots to United's none.

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David de Gea was forced to come to United's rescue—a familiar refrain this season. As the half progressed, United's plethora of attack-minded players came into the game, and between the 20-minute mark and the half-time whistle, United enjoyed 59.5 percent of the possession, fashioning three shots on goal.

West Ham, however, did manage to have three shots of their own during that period, meaning the half-time tally was 6-3 to West Ham in terms of attempts.

It was during United's period of dominance that it became clear that their attacking players were not on song during this game. They failed to make their dominance tell on the scoresheet.

Although it is certainly true that Van Gaal's selection appeared unbalanced, in truth, had his superstar-name players been in better individual form, it could have been a very different game.

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After all, by the end of the game, United had had 18 shots to West Ham's 13. Falcao had four shots, none of which were on target, including one egregious miss after some superb interplay between him and Van Persie.

Van Persie got three of his four shots on target, but there can be little doubt that in peak form he would have beaten the goalkeeper with at least one of the gilt-edged chances he was afforded.

Januzaj had three shots, none on target. Rooney only got one shot off from a midfield position which simply does not get the best out of him. It was off target.

Di Maria looked lively and was quick to attempt to dribble, but he recorded five unsuccessful touches wherein he failed to retain possession when receiving the ball, more than any other player on the pitch. 

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He also gave the ball away 16.2 percent of the times he attempted a pass and was unsuccessful at finding a United player with all 10 of his attempted crosses. It should be said in his defence, though, that a couple of those were perfectly good crosses which could have yielded results on a different day.

In the end, Daley Blind rescued a crucial point for United, and, given this season's form, getting a point away to West Ham is not actually a bad result. The problem is that it was such a laboured point, and it left many questions unanswered.

Is Van Gaal's constant experimentation undermining players' individual performances? Would Falcao and Van Persie not both be better served by ploughing a lone furrow up front rather than trying to form a partnership?

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Why, when it limits his contribution in terms of goals, assists and chance creation, and he does not have the experience to cover the defensive aspects of the role, does the Dutchman persist with selecting his captain in midfield over, say, Ander Herrera?

A win against West Ham would have seen United gather ground on Manchester City, and regain third place from Southampton. A draw ensures they remain a point clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place.

With three points separating third and sixth, there is little room for manoeuvre.

United will have to stop making so many individual errors in attack, and Van Gaal will have to find a better balance in his side. Both of those things need to start happening sooner rather than later.

All statistics per WhoScored.com