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Four takeaways from Manchester United 3-1 Club Brugge

By on August 18, 2015

Louis van Gaal’s job in charge of Manchester United has been defined by the task of bringing Champions League football back to Old Trafford. Everything Van Gaal has done at a club — overhaul United’s training regime, backroom staff and first-team squad — has built up to tonight’s two-leg Champions League playoff tie with Club Brugge.

Star after star has been brought in (notably, only five of United’s starting eleven tonight were at the club going into the summer of 2014) and change after change has been made to the lineup; so it’s ironic that Marouane Fellaini, a figure who epitomized the David Moyes’ era and got much of the grief, was the man to score the pivotal goal that may well send Van Gaal’s men into Europe.

After a disastrous start in the first leg against Brugge, with Micheal Carrick scoring an unfortunate own-goal, the wizardry of Memphis Depay’s right boot scored two goals to turn the tables. Brandon Mechele’s red card later reduced Brugge to ten men right after the Belgian side’s third substitution, handing the momentum to a United side in search of a 3-1 cushion heading into in the second leg. Fellaini, Van Gaal’s final substitute, delivered the goods with the final touch of the game.

And even if this isn’t the start of something for Fellaini, a ticket to the Champions League would certainly help pay off his £27.5 million transfer fee. For United, it appears to be the start of a new dawn. Alex Morgan (AM) and Richard Lewis (RL) review four takeaways from the match:

Depay properly introduces himself to Old Trafford

Fellaini’s goal was the final act, but on the night, Memphis Depay stole the show. Although Van Gaal began with the same lineup that was featured against Aston Villa on Friday, the Dutchman positioned Depay wide left today, after previously featuring his marquee man in a Trequartista role behind Wayne Rooney in the middle.

Two fantastic goals confirmed that Depay is better suited on the front line. On both occasions, in the thirteenth and forty-third minutes, Michael Carrick fed Depay the ball on the edge of the box. The first time around, Depay artfully poked the ball over a defender, collected it on the other side and two more shimmies opened up space to tuck a low effort into the bottom corner. The next time, Depay’s first touch took him back into the middle, where he whipped a brilliant effort around the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Inevitably, comparisons will now be made to United legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who occupied the same No7 shirt. While Depay is more possession oriented than the bag of tricks that was a young Ronaldo, he is finding a way to make the shirt his own. The Dutchman must now turn his attention to replicating this type of performance week in and week out and opening his Premier League account. AM

Rooney struggling in lone forward role

Club Brugge were decimated by injuries, which suggested that life wshould have been a breeze for Van Gaal’s men. That wasn’t the case. Wayne Rooney has failed to score so far this season and the critics are already on him. Back in a lone forward role after a few season’s worth of midfield duties, Rooney often looked isolated. His best touch, a delightful back-flick to set up Depay in the second half, was finished with perhaps Depay’s worst touch of the game, blasting a golden opportunity over the bar from fifteen yards. Otherwise, it was up to Depay to create his own chances — not that had had too much trouble.

Rooney’s form is still a concern, although substitute Javier Hernandez saw his first action for United after his year-long loan spell with Real Madrid ended and looked eager to break into the first team. Young striker James Wilson is also available and had his shirt number changed again, going from forty-nine to nineteen after changing from forty-seven last summer. Additionally, Chief Executive Ed Woodward would (a tongue twister there!) have flown to Spain by now for talks with Barcelona, in the hope of finalizing a deal for Pedro in the next 72 hours. RL

Michael Carrick upstaged by Bastian Schweinsteiger

Louis van Gaal has three similar defensive midfielders: Michael Carrick, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Tonight, he started Carrick and Schneirderlin together in a 4-2-3-1.

Early on, the decision looked misguided as Carrick and Schneiderlin struggled to control the midfield. Depay and Januzaj effectively acted as wide players and Mata roamed the pitch, only sporadically finding spaces. Carrick and Schneiderlin were left running in circles in a high-tempo opening. Their fortunes hit rock bottom when Carrick’s awkward hack at the ball in attempt to clear Brugge’s free-kick in the eighth minute wound up in the back of his own net.

As soon as Van Gaal brought on Schweinsteiger at halftime, United began to looked more rounded in the midfield. Schweinsteiger’s experience settled the game down, as Van Gaal admitted the substitution was on a tactical basis, adding as well that he wants to “build up Schweinsteiger.” Based on his form today, the starting spot could be Schweinsteiger’s to take once that process is complete. AM

It all comes back to One Direction

You may have thought the links between One Direction and Louis van Gaal were over after the Red Devils’ pre-season tour of the United States, in which the Dutchman criticized the state of the pitch left by 1D’s performance before United’s meeting with Club America. Obviously, Van Gaal couldn’t let that happen.

Van Gaal has given some very quotable interviews in his time in England and his latest post-match extensive list was no different. Discussing Depay, he stated: “I want to kiss him tonight. I’m very happy for him.”

Van Gaal will be getting the club saxophone player to belt out this tune out the end of season awards should Depay continue his hot run of form, to the tune of One Direction’s “Kiss You” with a Little Mix (painfully, pun intended) of alterations and a few substitutions:

Every time you have a touch
The team gets this kind of rush
Baby, say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
If you don’t want to take it slow
And you just want to play at home
Baby, say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
And let me kiss you! RL

Homepage photo credit: ING Nederland, via Flickr

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