7 Most Frustrating Things About Being a Manchester United Fan Right Now
Being a Manchester United fan over, say, 10 years of age should mean that you are never allowed to be frustrated by football.
After all, football has been unspeakably good to fans of the Red Devils, who have seen their team win everything, over and over again. The Premier League trophy was only ever on loan to other clubs during the first couple of decades after the league's rebranding.
Things are different now; competition is more fierce and the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson broke the magic spell surrounding the club. The truth is, while United fans should manage to live with the gratitude of what they have seen, the taste of success is sweet and very morish.
Thus plenty of frustrations exist as Louis van Gaal tries to get the club back to the top. Here are seven things that are currently frustrating about the Red Devils.
Wayne Rooney's Form
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Oh, Wazza...
Wayne Rooney managed a penalty against San Marino on England duty and a hat-trick against Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying, but he's having a rough season. All of his competition has been shipped out of the club, and he is the man expected to get the goals.
Which he is not doing—domestically at least.
United need him firing, and as a fan, watching him fail to do so is extremely frustrating when so much has been gambled on him.
A top-class No. 9 would have made so much difference to United's season already. Rooney has been one in the past, and United fans will be hoping he gets back to that level pretty quickly.
The Baffling Early Season Exclusion of Ander Herrera
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Ander Herrera's inclusion against Swansea City was something of a relief.
Of course, it did not change the outcome of the game, but the pattern of play in the first 20 minutes of the match demonstrated why fans had been crying out for him to be used more often. Attack-minded, tigerish in defence, Herrera is a superb box-to-box midfielder. He was one of United's few outfield players to consistently perform last season.
There remains a sneaking suspicion that Van Gaal has some issue with Herrera, given that it took him so long to become a regular last season and that this season started without him. It is very confusing, because from the outside looking in, he seems to be a player you would want to build a team around.
The Disconnect Between Rumour and Outcome in the Transfer Market
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Thank goodness it's over.
The transfer window this time around was as bad as it has ever been for rumour and speculation. The peak moment of ridiculousness came when the club were linked with Neymar, per Shaun Custis in the Sun.
Of course, the story was not that United were on the verge of signing Neymar, rather that they had expressed an interest. It is hard to remember a more fanciful attempt at a signing.
It was hardly the only one during a summer where United were linked to what felt like every superstar forward out there and ended up spending a fortune on a teenager.
Perhaps in time Anthony Martial will be worth the astronomical fee paid for him. However, the frustration that the window ended without proven attacking quality being added during its last few weeks has left a bitter taste.
The Van Gaal/Moyes Comparisons
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There is a lot wrong at United at the moment, but the Van Gaal/David Moyes comparisons have to stop. A fresh batch have been doing the rounds this week, comparing their record in terms of games won and money spent on players. One example is this article by Mike Keegan for MailOnline.
It is not that Van Gaal should be exempt from criticism—indeed, that is coming up on the next couple of slides—it is just that the situation the managers inherited was so different that the comparisons hold no water.
Moyes took over the Champions. Yes, there were issues with the squad, but three months before his arrival they had won the league. Van Gaal took over a side that had finished seventh, that was devoid of confidence.
His rebuilding job was fundamentally different to the job of correction and gradual rebuilding that was Moyes' task.
Moyes failed so spectacularly at that task that Van Gaal has pretty much had to start from scratch. He has made, and continues to make, plenty of mistakes, but they are of a totally different ilk to Moyes' mistakes.
The comparisons are very, very frustrating.
The Style of Football
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Speaking of deserved criticism of Van Gaal, let's talk about the style of football.
It's really boring.
It isn't always really boring—when it works well, it's lovely, all passing triangles and carving open space. It's just that when it stops working, things get really tiresome, really quickly.
There is an apparent lack of invention. When teams sit deep against United, United pass, pass and pass again looking for an opening.
Possession football can be thrilling—think of Spain's demolition of Italy in the final of Euro 2012, or Barcelona's demolition of United in the Champions League final in 2011. Both of those games saw the winning side playing wonderful football.
It is just the brand that United are currently playing seems to have no idea what to do when a team parks the bus. So, essentially, everyone they play is parking the bus, and watching games has become a slog.
It's pretty frustrating.
Plan B Is Too Obvious
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Van Gaal's substitutions have been a bit odd pretty much since he arrived. Bringing Michael Carrick on against Newcastle United, for example, a game in which United were in total control and needed more penetration, seemed an odd move.
His reluctance to remove Rooney from the field of play even when he is self-evidently having a total stinker, as he did against Aston Villa, is another frustration.
The return from suspension of Marouane Fellaini meant he was available against Swansea. Van Gaal brought him on when United were looking for a goal—a perfectly valid strategy, and one that has brought success in the past.
However, the style of play completely changed. Almost immediately, tiki-taka was replaced with hit-n-hope. It was a depressing spectacle and a confusing one. Why, if Van Gaal is so committed to his Plan A, does his Plan B look like the polar opposite?
Bringing on Fellaini to get a goal is a pretty sound policy, but it should not result in the game plan being set alight and thrown out of the window.
The Sense That It Should Be Better by Now
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This is not about the money spent. Spending money on transfers is no guarantee of success, as the example of Angel Di Maria proved.
This is about the fact that Van Gaal has had a full season, a full pre-season of his own design and three transfer windows. Perhaps it is too soon to be frustrated. Perhaps this is about unrealistic expectations imprinted by Sir Alex's remarkable reign.
However, it is hard not to think that things should be better by now. Such is the immediacy of football that if United beat Liverpool comfortably, much of this will be forgotten. But things are not yet working, and it sort of feels like they should be—or at least working a bit better than they currently are.
As stated right at the beginning, many of these frustrations are the frustrations of those of us who have been thoroughly spoiled by success. Perhaps this is the new paradigm at United. Perhaps, though, this will be remembered as part of the transition back to success.
Time will tell.
And hey, it's only football, try not to get too frustrated about it...
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