Red Rants |
- Jones excited by new tactics
- United and Barcelona to go head-to-head for target
- Have United found the new Fergie?
| Posted: 25 Jul 2014 04:13 AM PDT
Jones impressed in United’s 7-0 mauling of Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday and the 22-year-old has insisted he’s happy to adapt to Van Gaal’s new 3-5-2 system, if that means finally being handed an extended run is his preferred position, after spending his first three season at the club covering a variety of roles.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes, Jones was played as defensive midfielder and right-back, but the former Blackburn defender is determined to make the centre-back position his own as he aims to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. "The lads have been brilliant in training. The gaffer has told us how he wants us to play and they way he wants to play this season. It's a learning process but we're all pulling in the right direction. "We played three at the back with Luke [Shaw] and Antonio [Valencia] as wing-backs. And it worked. It's a learning process but we're getting used to it. “Day by day we're getting better and we'll be ready for the start of the season. Like I said it's a work in process. This is the first time I've played three at the back. Every manager has got his philosophy. We're all pulling in the right direction and hopefully we'll have a better season." Asked whether United’s new 3-5-2 formation could prove successful, Jones insisted that the players are fully behind Van Gaal’s tactical vision: "That's what the gaffer believes in. If he believes in that then we believe in that as well." "Defenders are defenders. The main thing for a defender is to defend. Defend the space and defend the goal. At times you've got the two wing-backs helping you as well," said the United defender when asked if switching to a three-man defence could prove complicated after years of playing with a more traditional system that included four men at the back. The 22-year-old, however, isn’t fazed by playing in a new system: "If one [defender] goes in the other two have got to come round and cover. It's the same when you're playing two at the back, one goes up for a header the other comes round. "Of course, as a defender you need a lot of communication. Talking to the people around you and if we get that right we'll be good." With Ferdinand and Vidic no longer at the club this season promises to be incredibly important for Jones and the England international is aiming to seize the opportunity: "That [replacing Ferdinand and Vidic] is ultimately what I want to be doing. Everyone is trying to impress and hopefully we can start the season off well. “We've lost two great defenders in Rio and Nemanja. But that's football and we move on. We've got good players to replace them and hopefully we can all step up and improve that."
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| United and Barcelona to go head-to-head for target Posted: 25 Jul 2014 03:02 AM PDT
The Belgian centre-back has been linked with a move to United for over a month now, with suggestions that Louis Van Gaal sees the Arsenal man as the perfect candidate to replace the departed Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, while Vermaelen’s versatility and his ability to play as left-back mean he could even provide cover for Luke Shaw.
Despite being club captain at Arsenal, Vermaelen has lost his spot in the starting XI and last week Arsene Wenger admitted he couldn’t guarantee the centre-back, whose contract expires in 12 months, will be at the Emirates by the time the season kicks off. That looked to have paved the way for United to clinch the Belgian’s signature but, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are ready to step up their interest in Vermaelen, who could be available for as little as £10m, to shore up their defence ahead of the upcoming campaign. With Gerard Pique’ suffering from a loss of form and Carlos Puyol retired, Barcelona are left with only one nominal centre-back, Marc Bartra, but the youngster hasn’t fully convinced yet, hence the decision to deploy Javier Mascherano as makeshift centre-back. The Catalans had clinched the signing of Valencia’s defender Jeremy Mathieu but they had hoped to secure PSG’s centre-back Marquinhos before the French club swiftly claimed he’ll not leave Paris for less than £35m. United, meanwhile, have been in the hunt for a centre-back since the end of last season and have been heavily linked with Mats Hummels, but Borussia Dortmund’s manager, Jurgen Klopp, claimed Hummels will not leave the Westfalenstadion this summer. |
| Have United found the new Fergie? Posted: 25 Jul 2014 12:16 AM PDT
Van Gaal has only been in charge for nine days but that didn’t prevent him from getting his United career off to a flying start as the Reds trounced Los Angeles Galaxy 7-0 in their first pre-season friendly on Thursday, and Giggs believes what he’s seen of the Dutchman so far has a lot in common with what he experienced during the 23 years he played under Fergie.
"They have an aura about them," said Giggs in an long interview published on the Guardian. "That comes from the success they have had. They demand the players respond and they demand respect. In the short space of time I have worked with him you can see why he has been a success. “He is infectious. He wants everything right from the first minute of training to the last. Everything we are working from is the blueprint he sent over from the World Cup, every minute of every session is laid down. He has now taken over." Giggs has so far been particularly impressed with Van Gaal’s methods: "Just everything he does is clear and everyone gets it straight away. He has got a unique way of putting it over but it's brilliant to see. To see it first-hand is great for my experience and the players. “It's quite simple but if you make a mistake he will tell you and if you do something good he will tell you. You know what you are doing wrong and you know what you are doing right." United are now doing a lot more work with the ball in training than they did under David Moyes and Giggs explained the players seem to be very happy about the change. "It's good and they are enjoying it. It's perhaps a little bit different to what they are used to. But it's a different manager with different ideas and a different philosophy. “We have done a lot with the ball. This is a philosophy the manager believes in and that he has had a lot of success with – his CV speaks for itself. “He has managed at big clubs and he is coming in to the job off a successful World Cup so already, recently, he has shown what he can do and I think the players have responded to that." Van Gaal has asked his players to take decisions during the game as if they were playing chess and Giggs insists Van Gaal’s ability to keep things as simple as possible will benefit United immensely this season. "It's his philosophy but a lot of it is common sense and he tells you that," said the United assistant manager. "A lot of it is very simple. Why complicate things? Its great how he puts it over. It's a clear message and the players are taking it on board. We have lost a lot of experience and we have a lot of young players, good pros, who want to get better. They are really listening and they really want to improve. "He wants to attack, score goals, be aggressive and play attractive football. He is willing to give young players a chance, which ticks the majority of the boxes in terms of what it takes to be a Manchester United player." The former United number 11 has also been thoroughly impressed with Van Gaal’s coaching staff so far, heaping praise on Albert Stuivenberg and Marcel Bout. “Albert and Marcel had all the information. I already had it emailed so I was looking through it. A lot of the practices I hadn't done before and they had. So they just walked me through it and away we went, really. It was all – not simple – but stuff you can do," said Giggs. "It's interesting to see the lads who've started the training and the lads at the World Cup. It's new to the World Cup lads but the others have been doing it for 10 days. You would argue that the quality of the [World Cup players] should be a lot better but the ones who've been doing it [longer] are better. It was the same for them when they started. They will get better the more and more they do it." |
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