As a rule, Louis van Gaal does not take criticism well.
When Sam Allardyce playfully suggested last season that Manchester United had used long ball tactics to force an equaliser against his West Ham United side, the belligerent Dutchman was never going to let it slide.
He brought a statistics dossier to his next news conference to prove, in his mind, that United had certainly not been “putting it in the mixer” and that Allardyce was wrong.
So, when the former United midfielder Paul Scholes recently began criticising how Van Gaal’s team were playing, it was never going to go down well with the Dutchman.
But Van Gaal is deluded to claim it was down to Scholes airing his views as a media pundit that fans had began to show dissent at United’s struggles to score goals and play free-flowing football this season.
Read more:
Richard Jolly on the rewards for Louis van Gaal’s faith in youth
Manhcester United need ‘speedy and creativity’ on wings, says Van Gaal, but window may be quiet
The fans are not blind, and given what they have been used to, the kind of exciting football led by players such as Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, watching this United side toil is bound to disappoint them.
United have scored 17 goals in 12 games so far this season, their lowest tally at this point in a campaign since 2004/05. Even at Old Trafford they have been painful to watch and have lacked fluency.
The problem is Van Gaal does not know his best formation and continually tinkers with his line-up. With players such as Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Ashley Young there should be goals, but that has not been the case.
Now, this may sound negative, but the unlikely scenario is that despite being the lowest scorers of the current top six in the table, they are legitimate title contenders and are only two points off the top.
That is largely down to the Premier League's best defence, which has conceded only eight, so it is hardly doom and gloom.
They may not score many, but they are hard to beat, with only two losses. That is the ethos of this Van Gaal side, and in a season where it is looking like there is no outstanding team, it could be enough to land a first title since 2012/13.
Scholes is entitled to his views, but there should be some context, too.
This is still an evolving side, and Van Gaal, despite questions over his management and tactics, has done a good job to turn a side that was at its lowest ebb in 25 years under David Moyes into a team who are capable of fighting for the title.
None of United’s forwards are playing anywhere near their best. In the era of Scholes, if he had a bad day one of myriad other world-class players in the side would step up.
Van Gaal does not have that luxury, and the fact that Rooney, not for the want of effort it should be said, has disappointed this season, has been a big blow. More goals have to come if they are to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal for the title.
If Van Gaal can solve that problem, they have the base to push for hard for the championship come May.
The question now is whether he can allow himself to concentrate on finding the formation that provides goals, utilising his flair players like Mata better, and avoid public spats with retired United legends.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
