Manchester United Creates Its Own Luck, Van Gaal’s Effective Strategy
The latest win of Manchester United secured by the goals of Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie has only proved that Louis van Gaal's methods are effective. In the end, Manchester went home victorious with a 3-0 score over Liverpool.
Liverpool was able to create a series of chances, making David de Gea the man-of-the-match. However, these did not stop Manchester United from getting a good grip on the third slot. United's performance on the field with Liverpool seemed like a replay of their game with Southampton at 2-0 score on their favour. It started with numerous goal attempts from their contenders, followed by numerous saves from United, and United going home victorious.
It appears that Manchester United's manager is not depending so much on luck anymore. They are forcing luck on their side. Louis van Gaal has faith on his team and truly believes that his team's performance is nothing compared to last season's, where they bagged the seventh place. In this season's performance, van Gaal told the press that the way his team played always takes into account the qualities of their opponent. The Dutch coach further bragged that United has staff that looks into their opponents' weakness. Sunday's match over Liverpool has only proved they found such pain.
This radical strategy of United was manifested on their Sunday's match with Liverpool where midfielder Rooney made home through a cut-back from Antonio Valencia on the 12th minute. Mata delivered a home just within 5 minutes before half time while Persie set United on third place in the 71st minute. This performance cannot be solely left alone to luck.
During Sunday's match, Rojo was injured, forcing van Gaal to deploy midfielder Carrick to counter Liverpool's defensive set-up. Liverpool played a good defence by alternating changes to their players with de Gea leading the defence against Raheem Sterling, substituting Mario Balotelli thrice. These changes by Liverpool were unluckily well adapted by United.
Defeated, Liverpool was kicked out from the UEFA Champions League by Basel. The team's manager, Rodgers, admitted the team somehow has a lowered spirit. This is not the end for them. Liverpool will regain its strength and they are aiming to rebuild the team once more.
