Manchester United Fan View: Van Gaal's tactics have made Reds a travelling joke

Let’s get straight to the point, Manchester United won just seven away games all season, a terrible stat whether they finish in the top four or not while Sunderland, who are having an awful campaign have scored more away goals than United.

The Reds currently have one of the best home records in the Premier League so just imagine how the season would have gone if they had replicated this in their away games?

There are three simple reasons United have underachieved.

Louis Van Gaal’s naivety

Many fans will blame Louis Van Gaal for yet another moneyball-driven campaign that's ended with the club bordering on Champions League failure - a stark opposite to Leicester who spent far less.

However, an alarming aspect of this disappointing season has been the form away from home. United's exploits in London have been rather dismal with Van Gaal's men being blitzed in minutes of madness, culminating in 3-0 defeats to both Arsenal and Tottenham. Following on from the North London nightmares, it seems that Van Gaal's tactical naivety reared its head; the Dutchman deployed his 3-5-2 formation - a notable factor when considering the defeats.

The manager has treated Morgan Schneiderlin very poorly, a player who is seen by fans as vital. Even though the Frenchman has faced a tough debut season, Schneiderlin has been in and out of the line-up but has still made 29 League appearances this campaign. United have a 56% win rate in the League when Schneiderlin starts for the side, but the 26-year-old has only started in 11 away games.

Not a wise choice from the manager, who prefers an ageing Michael Carrick and a limited Marouane Fellaini. Fellaini has been seen as a defensive midfielder in the eyes of Van Gaal, which is a surprise as you would think the Belgian could be better off used in a more forward position due to his aerial ability.

Tactics/Style of play

United have focused too much on possession but less on the chances. Against West Ham we had 59 per cent possession but just three shots all night. Under Louis Van Gaal the football played is too safe with not many risks allowed to be taken. If the side haven’t been an attacking side in the home games, with the support of over 70,000 fans surrounding them, what makes anyone think they could possibly attack away from home? We only scored 22 goals in 19 games away from home, clearly showing there must be some other factor contributing to their failure, not just bad luck.

Away days haven’t been much fun for the fans either. Despite a strong line-up being placed a lack of pace is evident in the starting 11. On many occasions Anthony Martial has been the player we have relied on especially with his pace.

The side has been set out with two holding midfielders, which limits the chances of creating more attacks and more goals. In the modern game one holding midfielder is enough, but more than one is way too defensive which has been the case for United this season.

If the side is struggling to perform in away games, it’s best to sit deep and counter attack with pace, something that Van Gaal has failed to adapt to. United have a 54.5% rate when it comes to possession, fourth highest in the league when it comes to away games but have managed only 3.7 shots on target per game. Not good enough.

Players not stepping up

The manager alone cannot take the full blame, the players have to take some blame too. They might be frustrated in playing in a rigid system, but they have to give it their all no matter what. Despite much of the blame from fans being targeted at the manager, the players need to take some responsibility too. In the space of seven minutes, Tottenham managed to score three goals at White Hart Lane against Manchester United. Surely this can’t be the fault of LVG?

At one stage, United seemed like they had given up on their manager and the club. It was during the December period, when the side only picked up two points out of a possible 15. With the rising rumours of Van Gaal being sacked, nearly every fan felt it was going to happen. The same month, the Red Devils were eliminated from the Champions League after an embarrassing campaign. Away from home in Europe, United have only managed to earn one point in the competition.

One of the best first-half performances for United was against Newcastle at St James’ Park, but a few individual mistakes allowed Newcastle to pick up a point. The Red Devils had the lead on two occasions, creating nine chances throughout the whole game. Players had the chance to simply kill the game off, but it wasn’t taken which meant United dropped two much needed points. United could have been enjoying top four right now with those two extra points.

With the season coming to an end, Louis Van Gaal and the side could learn a few things on how to improve their away games. Let’s hope this campaign has been a big lesson for them all.