Van Gaal's Players Are People Too

Article by e-Manchester United's Carl Bishop

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Finally the English Premier League is taking football players seriously and it can thank Manchester United's first foreign Coach for daring to portray individuals as real people and not just a product. Louis Van Gaal is a forward thinker, a true innovator in his chosen field and football is about to take on a new dimension in player development thanks to the Dutch Master.

As football has risen to a hitherto unrivalled status in the entertainment business, copious amounts of money large enough to make Richard Branson blush have catapulted young men to multi-millionaires in a ridiculously rapid space of time. The downside is they are seen as company assets forced to perform like an automated crane on a building site. Some people may argue this is a small price to pay for the riches professional sportsmen accrue, but the obvious fact is these 'assets' are actually people who have been fortunate enough to become slaves to their business masters. LVG is trying to change this mentality as he projects the outrageous notion of players as humans first and cash cows second.

Mr Van Gaal touched on this during his inaugural speech Thursday as he delivered a flawless 22 minutes in front of the ManU cameras. However, we had to wait for the very last minute of the press conference to hear the most telling of Van Gaal's statements “My philosophy is not only the football player, but in total”. Coupled with his revelation of the 16 year old Clarence Seedorf having more football experience than a 30 year old player, the most important part of LVG's philosophy is as transparent as we could wish for. Players will be chosen on football ability and a positive personality, without one or the other it's safe to assume bags will be packed at Arjen Robben speed.

The humanising of football players is long overdue. Movie stars and musicians are never demonised for earning millions whilst your average football star is targeted with social bile. The game's real power figures have also realised that by producing all round superstars who can speak coherently in public and project their good fortune towards the more needy will continue their profit columns up-trend even further. The clubs who refuse to accept this change shall slide into sporting oblivion in the not too distant future.

Around the world high profile sports organisations are doing their 'due diligence' when it comes to the nitty gritty of scouting potential players like never before. Players are not just being psychometrically tested but their whole backgrounds are being investigated in order to compile a profile that not just helps a CEO make a decision on offering a contract, but also helps the player understand what the total expectations of the modern sportsman really are. Football has some catching up to do, especially as some talents can be thrust into the searing limelight as mere teenagers like a wayward inter continental ballistic missile.

Manchester United are changing and Louis Van Gaal is in a position to impact this area of the game like few others. Managing Manchester United gives LVG an automatic seat at the top table when it comes to effecting change and one thing we already know about the successful Coach is that he is a natural born leader.

This approach to the game effectively means success at Old Trafford may not happen this season. LVG virtually guarantees Champions League football within 12 months but the real benefits are likely to be two or three years away. Transfers for Van Gaal will take a little longer than normal and the United worldwide horde may have to be patient before many stars arrive via the transfer market. Initially it may feel like the 'old United' with lots of talk about high profile players being pursued and then a Marouane Fellaini arrives. But King Louis should be trusted, unlike his predecessor.

United fans must be a little nervy regarding the Arturo Vidal saga, Angel Di Maria's alleged reasoning for leaving Madrid and Arjen Robben's love of LVG not being enough to prise him away from Bayern. Be patient, a centre-half, a defensive midfielder as well as an attacking midfielder will certainly arrive in due course but because Van Gaal will not panic buy the players he does bring in, whether August, January or next summer, will be worth it.

There is still a surprise or two looming before the season kicks off with very little being written about the likes of Marco Reus and Ross Barkley. When the press are quiet about certain players it normally means there is genuine interest in them. Thanks to the FFP teams like PSG, Barca and Madrid are mildly limited to their wildest dreams and as these 3 big hitters have already spent 200 million there just may actually be some world class players left for the rest of Europe, although if James Rodriguez does go anywhere it will be to improve the 'under-performing' front line at Madrid of Ronaldo and Bale.

But, if United fans find all this nonsense being spouted by the tabloids a little too much to bear then I suggest you just read every single Italian press report about Juventus. This past week has been impressive even by their standards as Vidal, Conte, Evra and Pogba have been either sold, signed, relocated, sacked, resigned due to personal reasons, resigned due to transfer market inactivity, on holiday and, if one report is to be believed, a certain player is moving house only because he is too scared to live in his current abode.

Realistically however, and it's not good news for United, if Juve really want to balance their books then Pogba is the obvious answer for profit. How that name still haunts Old Trafford. Still, you can't get everything right – but Louis Van Gaal has a much better chance than most.

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