The Manchester United season opener brought sky high expectations as new manager Louis van Gaal led the Red Devils to an undefeated preseason which was about as impressive as could be expected. Unfortunately, the result felt more like the disaster that was the one season under David Moyes than it did a revolution.
LVG and United in general felt very disappointed following a shocking 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City. It was the Swans’ first ever win at Old Trafford today and United’s first opening day defeat at the Theatre of Dreams since the 1972-73 season when they finished 18th.
Afterward, Louis van Gaal admitted his team had a lot of butterflies in the stomach, and that they didn’t play as a team.
“We were very nervous in first half, made the wrong choices and that is a pity. In the second half we never played as a team, therefore I’m responsible.
“We had more chances than Swansea but that shall say nothing about the result. It is the goals that count. I thought we would win [at 1-1] but because we are not playing as a team in the second half we made the wrong decisions going forward.
“My players did their utmost best, which I said in the dressing room, but you also need to play as a team and reach your level.”
This loss surprised pretty much everybody, especially after the way United tore through the preseason, winning the International Champions Cup. Yes, things will get better when Luke Shaw is healthy and Robin van Persie returns, but Louis van Gaal knows as well as everyone else does that his side has major issues to resolve.
They certainly did not look like a Champions League contender, let alone a title contender, in the opener.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)