Events have a capacity to make a fool of anyone. Sometimes those left looking misguided merit sympathy. These were circumstances few could reasonably have predicted. Their actions may not have been successful, but they were at least logical.
Then there are other occasions, when errors appear all too avoidable and when it is no surprise that decisions backfire.
Manchester United experienced a doubly chastening weekend in a fashion that demonstrated hubris.
First, Louis van Gaal’s side failed to break down Newcastle United. Then, Pedro, the transfer target whose release clause at Barcelona Van Gaal never quite activated, marked his Chelsea debut by scoring one goal and setting up another in a display of catalytic brilliance. He showed pace, penetration and potency, all qualities United lack.
Pedro had scored only 99 goals and had won a mere 20 trophies as a Barcelona player. Who could possibly have guessed he would have the attributes to make Chelsea better?
Sarcasm aside, however, and whether Van Gaal opted to end United’s interest in Pedro, which is the message from Old Trafford, or whether Jose Mourinho pulled of a coup by hijacking a rival’s move, a version with a certain credibility, one game can be deceptive.
It does not necessarily make Pedro a brilliant buy or prove that United, who have missed out on many a player in the past two years, have blundered again.
But nor does it look good. At times like this, it is as well that Van Gaal has such colossal self-belief.
He is unlikely to chastise himself about the way United’s attempts to sign Pedro ended, whereas his more sensitive predecessor David Moyes probably would have done.
The Scot was hindered by his instinctive caution. The Dutchman’s recklessness brings other dangers.
Bold decision-makers always run the risk of looking silly. Van Gaal may be unlucky in the way Pedro exerted an immediate impact in Chelsea colours, 24 hours after his labouring United side proved unable to score. Yet he should consider himself fortunate in other respects.
Omitting David de Gea, United’s two-time player of the year, because of concerns about his state of mind amid Real Madrid’s interest, has been controversial. It could have been costly.
Events on the pitch in United’s first four games mean it has not yet been costly. Sergio Romero, De Gea’s deputy, has barely had a save to make.
He is yet to be beaten by an opponent and was blameless when Michael Carrick scored an own goal against Club Brugge last week in the first leg of the Uefa Champions League.
Tomorrow’s second leg will produce a verdict as to whether that was important or ultimately irrelevant.
The chances are that United will navigate a path into the Champions League without using one of the world’s outstanding goalkeepers.
They have entered the season without a footballer, in Robin van Persie, who was one of its finest scorers not so long ago and another, in Angel Di Maria, who ranks among its most expensive players. Each was ushered out of the back door, to Fenerbahce and Paris Saint-Germain.
The safety-first theory of management would have entailed keeping both, even if Van Persie were declining and Di Maria disgruntled.
Van Gaal has left himself open to criticism by selling both. The traits he publicly admired in Pedro – speed and creativity – are those Di Maria possesses and showed briefly, before he was stymied by the manager’s ponderous football.
Van Persie certainly lacks pace but his ability to put the ball in the back of the net, whether elegantly or clinically, could have proved useful in this goal-shy United team.
Instead Wayne Rooney’s status as United’s first-choice forward has been cemented by departures, but he has not scored in 858 minutes.
Pedro, De Gea, Di Maria or Van Persie provide four examples of Van Gaal’s immense confidence in his own judgement. He plots a path others would eschew because of its perils but it carries an ever-present threat of danger, partly because of factors beyond his control.
Get such decisions right and Van Gaal’s already sizeable ego could swell further. Get them wrong and they may figure prominently in the post-mortems of his reign.
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