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What Does Van Gaal’s BPL Opening Game Defeat to Swansea Mean For Man United?

As you probably already know already, English Premiership football club Manchester United lost their opening game of the season last weekend. This was a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, to Swansea City during last Saturday’s early kick-off in England’s Barclays Premier League.

A clueless and lacklustre Man U team lose to Swansea on the BPL season's opening day. (Image: atomicsoda.com)

A clueless and lacklustre Man U team lose to Swansea on the BPL season’s opening day. (Image: atomicsoda.com)

First opening day loss since 1972

The result marked Man United’s first opening day loss since 1972 and is a stark contrast to United’s brilliant pre-season, where they had won all their games and had finished unbeaten – to win the Guinness International Champions Cup trophy.

In another ironic twist to Van Gaal’s reign, even the ousted former Manchester United manager David Moyes had won his opening game 4-1, during the 2013/2014 season.

Van Gaal has a lot of work to do

This Premier League defeat to Swansea is a sign that Van Gaal has a lot more work on his hands than he had probably bargained for, when he initially signed on for the Manchester United job. Simply put, maybe the current Manchester United team is not up for it. They may no longer be the illustrious club that they were once.

Also, based on their performance in the Swansea game, this current Manchester United squad, despite their pre-season brilliance, may be low on confidence now and may not have it in them, to excel and do well all the time this season. The Premier League is a completely different ball game compared to the pre-season friendlies.

From their performance in the Swansea game, the Red Devils need to realise that football is about brainpower and making good decisions on the field too. The game of football is not simply running around and kicking the ball randomly all over the place, while fervently hoping that it will somehow and magically find its way into the net.

Have to convince star players to join the Red Devils

Van Gaal will also have to do a lot more spending in the summer transfer market to beef up the squad before it closes in two weeks time.

But the main problem he faces in doing so, is to actually convince potential signings to actually join the Red Devils.

This is because if the potential recruits do not believe that Manchester United is able to get back into the top four and have at least Champions League football to play again next year, they are not likely to want to ply their trade with Manchester United.

Instead, they will go for more illustrious clubs, who are currently already in Europe’s premiere club competition – such as “noisy neighbours” Manchester City, as well as Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. So in this way, the Red Devils may lose out even more – if the existing team does not quickly buck up and prove themselves to their manager, their fans and the rest of the world.

Other Blog Posts You May Be Interested To Read:

Louis Van Gaal: Man U’s Messiah?

Germany Win Fifa World Cup 2014

Arsenal: Ready to Conquer the BPL?

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