Louis van Gaal must share the blame for Manchester United horror show

theguardian.com ^ | Aug 28th 2014 | Paul Wilson

[Berlin_Freeper]

Even at this early stage of the season the car crash that was Louis van Gaal’s first entanglement with the Capital One Cup seems likely to be one of those stand out matches, the sort of set piece horror show that will feature in clip compilations and football documentaries for decades to come. Heck, people like me are likely to be writing about it for years to come, so imagine my disappointment at not getting to witness the carnage first hand, or even watch it on television, but being forced to follow the action through a Steve Claridge co-commentary on Radio 5 Live.

[dfwgator]

To put it in college football terms, Manchester United losing to MK Dons, is the equivalent of Florida losing to Georgia Southern.

[Berlin_Freeper]

“The coach wanted to make clear to us that he can drop any player, it was all the same to him because, as he said, he had the balls. He demonstrated this literally by dropping his trousers.

[dfwgator]

Xabi Alonso close to joining Bayern Munich from Real Madrid in £8m deal

[Berlin_Freeper]

Wayne Rooney is the England captain

[dfwgator]

Arsenal barely made it to the Champions League Group stage, they were down to 10 men with about 20 minutes against Beskitas, but hung on to win 1-0.

[dfwgator]

And frankly the big clubs really don’t care all that much for the League Cup anyway. It’s the poor stepchild to the FA Cup. It mainly is a chance to give the scrubs some playing time, so these kinds of upsets are not unusual at all.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Going to be an interesting Season.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

Wow! Hate to say it, but it sounds like he has a mental health problem - a personality disorder. Grandiosity, lack of empathy, poor control of what he says and does.. It's not uncommon for people like this to move from job to job, behaving for awhile, but eventually always behaving badly and wearing out their welcome. They also have a talent for ‘selling’ themselves to the power structure that hires them, and justifying really pathological behavior to that power structure (’I am only trying to bring world class talent and quality here’). I hope this isn't the case with him. If it is, Man U’s problems might get better for awhile - but he could be a nightmare for them in the long run.

[dfwgator]

Makes you wonder how long until Sir Alex comes back.

[dfwgator]

The thing is under Fergie, United’s development of players was second to none, they rarely had to go out and pay the big money for players, Fergie found the diamonds in the rough, like Cantona, who could flourish.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

Yep. Maybe Januzaj will work out that way, if he gets the chance.

[dfwgator]

I think Roberto Martinez is a similar manager, he’s really good at finding the pieces he needs, on a shoestring budget.

Now if they can just stop blowing leads.

[Stentor]

Go Clarets.

[dfwgator]

They’ve got United next.

[dfwgator]

Champions League Draw

Group A
Atletico Madrid
Juventus
Olympiakos
Malmo

Group B
Real Madrid
FC Basel
Liverpool
Ludogorets Razgrad

Group C
Benfica
Zenit St Petersburg
Bayer Leverkusen
Monaco

Group D
Arsenal
Borussia Dortmund
Galatasaray
Anderlecht

Group E
Bayern Munich
Manchester City
CSKA Moscow
Roma

Group F
Barcelona
Paris St-Germain
Ajax
Apoel Nicosia

Group G
Chelsea
Schalke
Sporting Lisbon
Maribor

Group H
Porto
Shakhtar Donetsk
Athletic Bilbao
BATE Borisov

[dfwgator]

Dang Ajax can’t get a break.

[Berlin_Freeper]

http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/champions-league-group-stage-draw-manchester-city-bayer-munich-pairing-group-of-death-082814

[dfwgator]

Europa League Draw

Group A
Villarreal
Borussia Monchengladbach
FC Zurich
Apollon Limassol

Group B
FC Copenhagen
Club Bruges
Torino
HJK Helsinki

Group C
TOTTENHAM
Besiktas
Partizan Belgrade
Asteras Tripolis

Group D
Salzburg
CELTIC
Dinamo Zagreb
FC Astra

Group E
PSV Eindhoven
Panathinaikos
Estoril Praia
Dynamo Moscow

Group F
Inter Milan
FC Dnipro
St Etienne
Qarabag FK

Group G
Sevilla
Standard Liege
Feyenoord
Rijeka

Group H
Lille
Wolfsburg
EVERTON
FC Krasnodar

Group I
Napoli
Sparta Prague
Young Boys
Slovan Bratislava

Group J
Dynamo Kiev
Steaua Bucharest
Rio Ave
Aalborg

Group K
Fiorentina
PAOK Salonika
Guingamp
Dinamo Minsk

Group L
Metalist Kharkiv
Trabzonspor
Legia Warsaw
KSC Lokeren

Tough draw for my Toffees.