Van Gaal & Man Utd get Champions League golden ticket...but now the hard work starts
On Wednesday afternoon Manchester United’s Champions League future was hanging in the balance, with question marks over their direction in the transfer market undermining their desire to progress deep into the competition.
Yet just 24 hours on they were immediately installed as one of the favourites to make it into the Round of 16 after landing one of the luckiest Champions League draws of recent times, even by their standards. United have had easy routes before, but few have been kinder than this one.
They could have drawn Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Monchengladbach. Instead they face PSV, CSKA Moscow and Wolfsburg. At a time when questions are being asked as to the club’s preparation for the bigger challenges to come, we might have to wait until the Round of 16 before the Red Devils are truly pushed on the European stage.
PSV present a romantic return for Memphis Depay just a matter of months after he left Eindhoven for Old Trafford in a deal worth around £25 million, but a repeat of the Mark van Bommel and Mateja Kezman-inspired 2000 defeat is a hugely unlikely prospect given the fact Dutch football continues to fade in the wider arena.
Perhaps the trickiest aspect of the clashes with CSKA Moscow is the logistically-challenging journey to Russia during the cold autumn and winter months, while Wolfsburg will only present a challenge if Manchester City somehow allow Kevin De Bruyne to slip through their fingers before September 2.
They came up against both CKSA and Wolfsburg in the group stage in 2009-10, but only Besiktas – the remaining team in the group – truly troubled United. And a repeat is likely, with De Bruyne’s likely departure being a huge boost as they come to face the Germans. A team set up to play around a playmaker heading for the exit door will have quite some reorganising to do if they are to cause United any kind of problems.
The bottom line is that Louis van Gaal and United have got out of jail. After a summer in which they have dallied in the transfer market at great cost, spectacularly missing out on Pedro Rodriguez, being so obviously used by Sergio Ramos and being usurped by neighbours City over Nicolas Otamendi, a testing time in the Champions League might well have exposed the three-time European champions’ glass jaw.
But after being handed a relatively simply route past Club Brugge into the group stage, they now have a similarly straightforward path to the post-Christmas phase of the competition. United really have got away with it, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Rarely have they looked so ill-prepared for a Champions League campaign. Van Gaal admitted when reviewing Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick in Bruges on Wednesday night that his men are still have a lot of work to do to reach the level he wants from them.
"I think Wayne has a very strong mentality and with his level he always shall come back," he told reporters. "He proved that this evening, but also there's still a long way for him and also for Manchester United."
Such a comment should come as no surprise given that just five days from the closure of the transfer window, United have done nothing about addressing the two gaping holes that Van Gaal has spoken of for some time. David De Gea has never looked more desperate to leave, while a pacey attacker is yet to be found after the Pedro affair came to an embarrassing end.
There are arguably big questions elsewhere too with the defence looking low on authority and mobility being in short supply in the midfield, not to mention the potential need for an out-and-out centre forward.
Never did United need a favourable draw more than they do right now. They should still have more than enough to get through Group B and play a part in the round of 16, but quite how they will shape up when they get there is the big question as the transfer deadline looms ever larger.
Their Premier League position come February will doubtless tell us more about United than their Champions League progression, with tougher tasks on the cards at home than abroad.
United’s European prospects over the autumn and winter look bright, but now the focus must fall on whipping the squad into shape before the closure of the window if they are to be anywhere near as successful come the spring.
PSV,CSKA,Wolfsburg
