Van Gaal shifted to a 3-5-2 because he didn’t have the players for 4-3-3, he’s said repeatedly that the squad is unbalanced (needs to get mata, rvp & Rooney in) and without the quality of wingers required (name checking Angel). I wouldn’t get too fixed on 3-5-2, as he’s also said they players know 4-3-3 and can revert back when required (pretty much every game so far…)
We have been dire so far but we are missing rafeal & shaw, the attacking wingbacks needed to make the current shape work, we also have evens & “rojo” out (relying on several reserve team players – we only have 3 “senior” cb’s 2 of which have spent the last coupla seasons playing anywhere but CB). Then the midfield (a weakpoint for ages) is missing carrick and herrea (would be first pick midfield), leaving cleverly (who played like a coward at the weekend) and Fletcher who is getting on and had a seriously debilitating illness (oh and Anderson… who will probably start tonight for 30mins before breaking down for 6 months again). It doesn’t matter how good the front end is (very slow in UTD’s case when welbeck isn’t there to run around like bambi on ice) if everything behind them is turd. The re-invention of young and valancia as wingbacks was a revelation in the USA, but both have gone back to their 1 trick pony ways (and even more of a coward in youngs case) as the PL knows them inside out.
It also looks like the supposed FFP rules are being used to protect the positions of the established big clubs, otherwise it would be Uniteds financial position that should be bringing the greatest sanctions.
I don’t understand this viewpoint – Utd bring in a massive self-built revenue and the wages paid are well within the allowed range of turnover (even more so as 4 senior players left at the end of last season – giggs, vidic, rio and evra, if they had stayed we would have struggled to comply with FFP and bring in a lot of new players – it’s not buying that’s tricky it’s paying wages), a leveraged buyout isn’t illegal, it’s a shit state of affairs (imagine how good Utd would be with the £700M to spend on players?) but it looks like finally the Glazers have gotten a handle on the interest payments and it’s down to something like £21M per year now, very manageable with the increased TV deal alone. Utd are on the NYSE and meet their financial requirements as a proper business, they have a massive income so can spend a lot on players and their wages and service the debt. If anything rivals should be ecstatic of the glazers stripping cash out and weakening utd’s buying power. If you want to punish clubs with debt that would be most in the PL (arsenal would have been knackered trying to buy their stadium, Chelsea’s interest free loan/share arrangement with abramovich (up to £726 million) is surely worse than Utd’s.
I do agree that the FFP rules does help to protect the position of the current big clubs (as well as stopping clubs spending beyond their abilities to maintain) and then there is a whole other argument of sugar daddies vs self built vs reckless spending to get into/stay in the PL.
