You have to give Louis van Gaal credit for one thing – he doesn’t mess about when he rebuilds a football club.
By the time the new season starts the Manchester United team that takes to the field will be entirely unrecognisable from the one he inherited from David Moyes.
LVG may have only been in the job a year but during that time he has ripped the old team to shreds and built a brand new one. As processes go this has been revolution, not evolution.
But with this rapid and drastic change comes added pressure – there will be no excuses should United 2.0 fail to bring home the bacon.
Last season, van Gaal was working with a squad that had been cooked up by Sir Alex Ferguson, with a few added dashes of Moyes. His own input was limited and, in the case of Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao, the ingredients were not overly inspiring.
But on August 8 against Tottenham Hotspur we will finally see the formal unveiling of Team LVG. A recipe entirely of his own making.
Last week the Dutchman splashed another £50 million (€72m) or so of the club’s money on three more major signings. Of those, Bastian Schwiensteiger was the most notable, understandable considering he is a Bayern Munich legend and captain of the German national team.
To be honest I have some reservations about Schwiensteiger. At 30 he is hardly a player for the future and his recent injury record is not great. But on the other hand, the amount of experience he will bring to United’s midfield is absolutely immense.
I almost feel like Schwiensteiger has been signed as a status symbol rather than as a player. A way of proving United can still attract really big names even if they aren’t the all-dominant force they were a decade or so ago.
I could be wrong and I will hold my hand up and admit it if I am, but I suspect Schwiensteiger’s overall role might not be as prominent as he might imagine over the course of the 10 months.
In fact, I think van Gaal’s other midfield purchase last week will turn out to be the real heartbeat of his new-look United. French international Morgan Schneiderlin is, in my opinion, one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, and it is about time he earned a move to one of the bigger clubs.
Apart from his natural skill and tenacity, he also has another advantage – he knows English football inside out. Not just the Premier League either, this lad has plied his trade in League One and the Championship. And that means he will be just as comfortable playing at Bournemouth as he is at Chelsea.
In my opinion, every big team needs one of those players – a lad who has risen to the top the hard way. They provide a level of steel and resolve that more pampered players are incapable of mustering.
But van Gaal’s rebuilding process is not just about those coming in. Over the past 12 months he has had no hesitation in showing the door to those players he deems surplus to requirements.
The latest, and possibly most notable, of these is Robin van Persie. Just a couple of seasons ago he was a United legend, scoring 30 goals in 48 games and firing them to the title.
With this rapid and drastic change comes added pressure – there will be no excuses should United 2.0 fail to bring home the bacon
But after failing to hit anything like the same form during van Gaal’s first season in charge, he has been shipped off to Fenerbahçe despite that leaving United short in numbers up front.
With several weeks of transfer window remaining, you can rest assured there will be a few more arrivals at Old Trafford and, quite possibly, a few more departures too. (Di Maria’s days are starting to feel numbered, for example).
There is still some momentum left in the van Gaal revolution.
Having said that, the Dutchman knows more than anybody that judgement day is rapidly approaching.
When you have overseen a rebuilding process of this magnitude it has to be reflected in improved performances on the pitch.
A top four finish last time round may have been enough, considering he was still finding his feet. But a serious title challenge coupled with some sort of silverware must surely be the minimum acceptable return on his investment this season.
We are about to find out whether van Gaal is going to become a United legend, or just another manager who failed to fill Sir Alex’s boots.
It wasn’t dress down Sunday
A lot of people made a lot of fuss about Formula One champions Lewis Hamilton being refused entry to the royal box at Wimbledon for not wearing a jacket and tie.
The Mercedes driver was not allowed to take his seat for last Sunday’s men’s final because he turned up for the event dressed too casually.
What I don’t understand is why this is such a big deal to some people. There are rules in place at Wimbledon governing entry to the royal box and Hamilton didn’t follow them.
He wouldn’t try to get behind the wheel of his Formula One car in a mankini and flip flops so why should he expect to be let into the royal box at Wimbledon dressed like a extra from a rap music video?
To give Hamilton credit it all appears to have been a misunderstanding in that he wasn’t aware of the dress code. And I am reasonably sure he would have worn something more appropriate if he had known.
But those, like Gary Lineker, suggesting this incident shows ‘England at its pompous worst’ are very wide of the mark. It’s about having respect for the rules and traditions of a sporting occasion.
If you don’t like those rules you are more than welcome to stay at home and watch on TV. But to suggest they should be bent just because the person in question happens to be a sporting superstar is nothing more than arrogance at its worst.
Sterling’s special day
Thanks to Raheem Sterling’s £49 million move to Manchester City, we now have a new big date to look forward to on next season’s football calendar: March 1 – the day Sterling will make his Anfield return.
Unlike last season’s wantaway Liverpool star Luis Suarez, Sterling doesn’t have the luxury of his new club being based in a foreign country. So Sterling will have no choice but to face his demons when he and his City teammates play Liverpool.
Although I have no doubt the Liverpool fans won’t do anything stupid, you can rest assured the England winger will walk out to a wall of abuse.
And I can’t see him getting any respite while he is on the pitch.
Having said that, don’t be surprised if Sterling is struck down by a mystery illness on the eve of the game – he is pretty handy when it comes to getting conveniently sick…
sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade