Promising start from Van Gaal's United in first pre season friendly

Yes its a friendly YES it means nothing in terms of major trophies but in terms of team cohesion and preparation for the upcoming season  its a fantastic result 7-0. Van Gaal chose to play 3-4-1-2 in the match and it proved to be well suited to the players at his disposal it had width, penetration through the middle, creativity in the midfield and looked well balanced defensively.

New signings 

An intriguing part of this game was to see how well Ander herrera and Luke Shaw fitted in looking back at the game I felt Luke Shaw was competent but nothing major he did struggle at times defensively but was given great support by Herrera who looks an excellent acquisition but lets remember Luke Shaw is only 18 and has a lot of time to improve I do think that in the big champions league games Man utd may want to call upon some slightly more experienced another plus of this is that Shaw can learn from them and become and even better player, maybe we can see a player like Daley Blind who Van gaal knows very well.

Ander herrera was amazing his composure on the ball in tight situations in midfield, his distribution of the ball and his positioning defensively to support the defensive was astonishing, again i know its only pre season and against L.A galaxy but its hard not to get excited by such a great talent.

Tactical Change 

3-4-1-2 was the formation Van gaal chose we wondered if he had changed his philosophy permanently as he played slightly more defensive when managing Holland but it looks as if he's sticking to his philosophy as Man utd played very attacking with width great movement in midfield looking to score all the time so his time with Holland showed flexibility if anything.

I think the main reason for going to a 3-5-2 variation was so that he could field 2 strikers up front with the the likes of Hernandez , Rooney ,Van persie and Welbeck he identified the quality upfront and  built from their. He also needed to make sure the team was balanced perfectly and the 3 centre backs gave each other defensive support as if were being honest individually the Man utd defence is not the best and this in turn allowed the freedom of people like Shaw and Valencia to get wide as possible and showcase their skills going forward it worked brilliantly but we have to ask ourselves can Man united play like this against the likes of Chelsea and City? i think not as it may be to open defensively but Van gaal has said he has other systems in mind for other situations.

Conclusion

All in all i think its a promising start however I cant wait to see Man united against better quality opposition to see if Van gaal adapts and changes during these situations. This win will give United confidence and faith in the new system which in turn will make for a great pre-season and hope fully a good season.