The Louis van Gaal Way 2014-2016

[goqs06]

Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former player. He was formerly manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ, Bayern Munich, the Netherlands and Manchester United. He is one of the most decorated managers in world football, having won 20 major honours in his managerial career.

1. Under Louis van Gaal, Manchester United were known for dominating possession but not always doing a lot with it. Often it was possession for possession's sake, with no cutting edge or chances created at the end of it. e.g. Under Van Gaal in the 15/16, United had 56 % possession at Bournemouth, completing 389 passes to 300 - yet they lost 2-1.
2. Van Gaal's attacking strategy often involved laborious build-up play and a succession of sideways passes. 
3. One of the big problems was the complete lack of service that United's lone striker often received. Anthony Martial played up front for Van Gaal's side in their loss at Bournemouth last season and received just 23 passes. Wayne Rooney similarly seemed isolated in various fixtures.

The research:

https://www.passion4fm.com/louis-van-gaals-preferred-tactical-changes-at-manchester-united/

http://www.thefalse9.com/2015/03/louis-van-gaals-new-look-4-1-4-1-formation-for-manchester-united.html

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/sg/features/mourinho-vs-van-gaal-how-man-uniteds-new-tactics-compare

http://www.thefalse9.com/2014/04/louis-van-gaal-tactics-and-his.html

 

The football may appear fluid at times, but the philosophy from back to front (goalkeeper to attack) is rigid and extremely defined, consisting of four primary layers:

1) The first phase is construction of the attack from defence. Playing out from the back, starting with the goalkeeper.

2) Ball circulation throughout midfield is the secondary layer, enticing defenders out of position and causing disorganisation.

3) Creating chances in the final third having patiently maintained possession of the ball in midfield.

4) Finishing off attacking moves efficiently, with focus on proficient placement of shots.

 

I believe that his tactics are based on these 5 tenants (POTTP):

Possession (keeping hold of the ball)

Overall improvement of all players 

Tactical adaptability (being flexible in all situations)

Total Football (in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team - flexibility in roles)

Pressing with high speed (to get the ball back as quickly as possible)

 

Overall framework (tactical & playing styles):

After all this writing and reading I will now try to create a framework which facilitates what I want.

Team Shape: Flexible:

• fits with LVG's tenants of adaptability & flexibility - everyone is expected to play more than one phase of play

Mentality: Control:

• "aims to move the ball around the park": retain possession, fits with LVG's sideways passes to hold onto the ball
• "patiently probe the final third to find space": work ball into the box
• "full backs will overlap only during risk-free mentality"

To sum up, the control mentality is a cautious one.

Team Instructions

 

Higher tempo:

• encourages the team to go about their business in an incisive manner, capitalising on any disorganisation

Slightly higher defensive line & Use offside trap:

• create a high line along with the offside trap
• ensuring pressing higher up in the opponents half

Get stuck in:

• winning back the ball back faster with hard, crunching tackles

Short passing and Retaining possession:

• ensures patient build-up at the back (no long balls)

Work ball into box:

• encourages players to hold onto the ball and wait patiently till an opening in the final third is found

Formations

The 4-1-4-1

 

4-2-3-1

 

3-4-1-2

 

Conclusion

I like to say that this is my first time doing a tactical replication with such intensity and great detail. As I'm a rookie, FM18 is my 2nd foray in the FM series, the objective of creating this thread is to get feedback. If I am wrong, please point it out. I have read a lot of the content this fantastic community creates, tried out some things myself and finally feel comfortable of putting myself out there. 

A shoutout to my influences and "mentors":
@Cleon
@Rashidi
@Ö-zil to the Arsenal!
@herne79

Thank you and hope y'all have fun playing FM18!

 

[goqs06]

Links to the tactics

4-1-4-1: http://www.mediafire.com/file/6d3jz9xyi9l2djw/LVG+4-1-4-1.fmf

4-2-3-1: http://www.mediafire.com/file/1je25a1nuray1me/LVG++4-2-3-1.fmf

3-4-1-2: http://www.mediafire.com/file/8bc57q51rfzqjil/LVG++3-4-1-2.fmf

[goqs06]

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[sherifdinn_]

One question, are you trying to replicate the man utd under van gaal, or the van gaal philosophy itself? 

[Cleon]

10 minutes ago, sherifdinn_ said:

One question, are you trying to replicate the man utd under van gaal, or the van gaal philosophy itself? 

I think he covers this in the POTTP bit of his opening post. he's replicating the principles to recreate the philosophy.

A good well thought out post, nice work @goqs06

[sherifdinn_]

I'm a,man utd fan, but I wasn't particularly around during the tenure of Louis van Gaal due to me being in a boarding house for my high school education so I hardly caught any matches, but I can recollect some characteristics, like the 4-1-4-1 for example, I remember mata and Herrera often combined at the right had side of the pitch although I'm not sure of fellaini as a CM(at)  but I'm confident Carrick was a DLP and young was a winger. Also blind was an attacking full back. For the 4-2-3-1 I don't think we used a shadow striker (maybe we did inform of Rooney). And I can't recollect anything from the 3-4-1-2. As for the the team instructions, I think they are spot on correct.

@Cleon

[goqs06]

6 hours ago, Cleon said:

I think he covers this in the POTTP bit of his opening post. he's replicating the principles to recreate the philosophy.

A good well thought out post, nice work @goqs06

Thank you! 🙏

[goqs06]

19 hours ago, sherifdinn_ said:

One question, are you trying to replicate the man utd under van gaal, or the van gaal philosophy itself? 

@sherifdinn_ @Cleon to make it clear I used van Gaal's philosophy in this project, but incorporated the formations he used at man utd from 2014-2016

[sherifdinn_]

4 minutes ago, goqs06 said:

@sherifdinn_ @Cleon to make it clear I used van Gaal's philosophy in this project, but incorporated the formations he used at man utd from 2014-2016

Good show 👏

[FrazT]

Closed by request of the OP