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MOTD: Manchester United 1-2 Norwich City

By on December 19, 2015

It was early July and Manchester United were flying to California to set up a week-long camp as part of their preseason U.S. tour and the club had scheduled a press conference at San Jose’s Avaya Stadium with Louis van Gaal and Mike Smalling (yes, THAT press conference) immediately after the club’s flight landed at the airport just across the street. That evening I headed down to the stadium, building in an extra twenty minutes just in case.

I arrived early and hopped across the street to a coffee shop adjacent to the stadium. Fifteen minutes before the press conference was planned to start, event organizers announced that the press conference would start a half hour early, with just ten minutes to spare. I nicked over to the event just a few moments late, while many local reporters were not so lucky. This is just the way that United, the global brand, dictate their schedule – with Louis van Gaal at the center.

A few days later, following United’s 3-1 win over the Earthquakes, it was time for the post-match procedures. Van Gaal was shepherded out and his presence dominated the room. He ran the press conference, and he personally set the flow, not his press officer or the room full of reporters. The setting is far different from the more intimate setting in MLS – Van Gaal held forth as an intimidating presence.

Six months on and United are in a rut, winless in six matches. Today they were defeated by newly-promoted side Norwich City and last weekend United lost to another in their match at Bournemouth. The confidence has gone from their team and throughout his post-match press conference, Van Gaal was uncharacteristically timid and reserved. “You can see what confidence is doing to players,” he told the BBC. “We have to stick together and believe in ourselves.”

And yet he doesn’t look entirely convinced of himself either. Of his job security, he only said: “We shall see.” His brazen, charismatic persona was gone. If this is how Van Gaal appeared in front of the press it’s hard to see him inspiring this United team in the dressing room.

Certainly, the Old Trafford crowd has lost its trust in their manager after another wretched loss, their first to Norwich since 1989. Although United poured forward early on at the urging of the Old Trafford support, their chances were limited to scrappy long-range efforts. The Canaries were all organized at the back and lethal on the break.

Thirty-eight minutes in, Nathan Redmond poked the ball past Phil Jones and into the path of Cameron Jerome, who evaded another challenge and ran in behind the out-of-position Jones. Jerome poked a fifteen yard effort out from under his feet and David de Gea couldn’t get enough on it to push the ball wide.

Alex Tettey added a second on the other side of the half, maintaining his cool to beat De Gea having been set in behind United’s disjointed defense by Jerome. The two goals were more than United have allowed in their last seven home fixtures.

The two goals forced United’s hand and Ryan Giggs was frantically shouting instructions from the sidelines. Van Gaal kept mostly seated, buried deep in his jacket. Anthony Martial buried a scrappy finish in the sixty-sixth minute from close range and Juan Mata forced Declan Rudd into a good save from a curling free-kick, but United often looked frustrated up front. Wayne Rooney, on his part, was again ineffective.

In fact, it was Norwich who nearly added a third late on, as Youssuf Mulumbu saw a low effort from the edge of the area scooped wide by De Gea. The win takes them out of the relegation zone and promises a joyful Christmas for Norwich. Louis van Gaal, meanwhile, will spend the holidays battling for his job as Jose Mourinho watches with newfound interest.

Homepage photo credit: By Andrea Sartorati derivative work: Matej.becks [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.