Over a year in charge and almost a quarter of a billion pounds spent, but at least  Louis van Gaal and Manchester United are making some progress.

Despite a heavy defeat to a team they usually defeat heavily, United are going in the right direction - but after spending so much money, they’re getting there surprisingly slowly. Van Gaal’s team and his tactics at the weekend show it.

Van Gaal started with Schweinsteiger and Carrick, much to the dismay of those who felt that Morgan Schneiderlin would give the team a bit more bite. And those who felt this way were vindicated by the end of the game. Schweinsteiger were given instructions to press Arsenal high up the pitch - not something usually asked of a pair of central midfielders with a combined age of a man waiting on his free bus pass.

[ffc-gal cat="manchester-united" no="5"]

Schneiderlin would have been better in the role, but van Gaal didn’t put him there. And this shows two things. One is the stubbornness of van Gaal, the man who has transformed Manchester United. The other is that despite spending so much money, United are still lacking in their squad and its depth.

Firstly, van Gaal has transformed the personnel, the style of play and the way the team operates. Whereas in the past, United would have been able to adapt their side and their tactics in order to target the weakness of other teams. Just a look at United’s record against Arsenal shows that they knew how to beat Wenger: before the weekend Wenger hadn’t beaten United since May 2011, a big game at the time but it hardly mattered - although that defeat cut Ferguson’s lead over Chelsea in the title race to three points, United eventually won the league by nine points.

But at the weekend, van Gaal’s team didn’t play like the Ferguson teams of old who could pinpoint Arsenal’s weaknesses and cause Wenger severe headaches. This time Arsenal picked them off.

Van Gaal is as attached to his principles as a limpet is to a rock, against the bigger teams, that might mean they get picked off like they did against Arsenal. Against the smaller teams, that might mean that United control the game, but if they don’t manage to break down a defence, they might succumb to a draw. Too many draws might cost them the title. Similarly, too many defeats against the big teams can cost you the title too - just ask Arsene Wenger.

But van Gaal won’t change. And that’s ok, he’s a successful manager for a reason. If he believes that he can win the league with this team, he probably deserves at least a season to try. But the next problem he runs into is his squad.

Having spent so much money, United should be challenging for the title again. In order to do that you need the squad to take the stresses and strains of the season. Partly that means squad depth, but it also means having the squad to make the tactical changes you want to make against different teams.

And against Arsenal, van Gaal set up in order to try and control the game himself. With Carrick and Schneiderlin, LvG had two players who are positionally excellent and who can pass exceptionally well. He thought he could have a solid defensive midfield to stand up to Arsenal’s patient build-up play and then launch patient attacks of their own when they got the ball back.

He should have played Schneiderlin, but didn’t. Either that means van Gaal made a glaring tactical error and refused to correct it, or he thought that Schneiderlin wasn’t the right player for the role. And if he feels like he doesn’t have the right man for the role, then just what is he spending £250m on? He's spending that much money and still having to play Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia at full back?

Van Gaal has transformed Manchester United, their style of play is different and their personnel is different. But last weekend’s defeat showed problems with both of these areas. Manchester United were picked off by an Arsenal side wise to van Gaal’s tactics, and Untied didn’t have the players on the pitch to deal with it. It was a failing in both areas and United won’t win a title unless they improve both.

[ad_pod id='writeforus' align='center']