Manchester United 2 Swansea City 1
Anger has been the prevailing emotion of Louis van Gaal and his players during their barren six-week run with no victory. The manager revealed the feeling in the dressing room as Manchester United slid down the table and were knocked out of the Champions League by Wolfsburg in a December that was the poorest in the club’s 138-year history.
This 2-1 win against Swansea City finally turned the mood to joy and Van Gaal could also speak of hopeful liftoff into 2016 for Wayne Rooney, whose sublime back-heeled winner broke the captain's own two-month club drought, placed him ahead of Denis Law on 238 United goals, and clear second behind Alan Shearer in the Premier League stakes, with 188 goals.
“They are very angry that we have lost so many games in a row,” Van Gaal said of the four-match streak that started with the defeat by Wolfsburg.
“They are not used to that, I’m not used to that, losing four matches in a row. Never – and I have been in this profession for 25 years, so it’s unusual and they are angry, and want to change the situation.”
Much space
Of Rooney, he said: “I hope that it can give a boost to him because the goal was fantastic. There was not so much space and still he ran to the first post and did it this way, so it was fantastic, and I am very happy for him.”
The faultlines in this Vas Gaal squad remain, though.
The first-half display was reminiscent of the rudderless days two years ago under David Moyes. Rooney may have waited since November 3rd for an eighth finish of the term but he and Anthony Martial remain seriously starved of chances.
The 20-year-old began the scoring, benefiting from space created by Rooney’s near-post run to head beyond Lukasz Fabianski from the excellent Ashley Young’s cross.
It came just after the break, yet when Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised on 70 minutes United seemed certain to extend their winless sequence to a ninth outing. Van Gaal’s side had not scored twice without the benefit of an own goal or penalty for nearly three months, when Everton were beaten 3-0 on October 17th.
Van Gaal lined up with three centre-backs, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind and Phil Jones, who was replaced at half-time because of a recurrence of his recent ankle injury. In front of the trio was a disjointed four-man midfield that featured Bastian Schweinsteiger on the left, with Martial and Juan Mata placed further ahead, behind Rooney.
Van Gaal stated the system was a “risk” and so, too, had been the pressing mode employed against Chelsea on 28 December because of the “space behind us”.
The claim will do little to assuage fans who believe the 64-year-old is betraying the club’s proud modus operandi of looking first always for the jugular of the opposition.
Still, the welcome three points were attained via the class of Martial and Rooney.
If they can hit form together there is hope for the rest of United’s campaign. Martial glided along the left, flipped the ball to his captain and, with a deft flick of his heel, Fabianski was beaten.
Is this a sign of a burgeoning partnership? “I hope so,” Van Gaal said. “Now Martial is playing on the left side again, and we have tried that before also, and Wayne in the striker’s position. . . all the players do their utmost best and you can see that but still there is still space for improvement.”
Swansea City are a place above the relegation zone and still have a caretaker manager in Alan Curtis.
United welcome Sheffield United in the FA Cup third round next Saturday. Then there is a midweek trip to Newcastle United and a Sunday visit to Liverpool.
Van Gaal said: “Now the pressure is lowering, the performance shall be better every week.”
Guardian Service
