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| Off to a Flyer: Herrera shone in his first appearance for Man United |
Van Gaal handed starts to both summer signings Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, while the likes of Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck were given starts. Darren Fletcher was the stand-in captain for the friendly, whilst Jonny Evans returned to the back line. Van Gaal opted to play with an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation, with Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw as wing-backs, and a back three consisting of Evans, Smalling and Phil Jones.
Although many were thinking otherwise before the start of play, van Gaal's gamble to use an unfamiliar formation paid off as players responded to van Gaal's footballing 'philosophy' brilliantly. Debutant Ander Herrera was the standout performer in the match, with the Spanish midfielder bagging three assists. Fellow Spaniard Juan Mata was also having a fantastic match, before being substituted off in the second half.
Although Manchester United looked shaky at the start of the match, with captain Darren Fletcher and other debutant Luke Shaw misplacing a few passes, things gradually improved as the Herrera - Mata - Rooney - Welbeck combination worked wonders. There was neat, slick passing in the final third, followed by some lethal finishes.
Another noticeable change in the playing style was the switch of play from midfield. For the past few seasons, and especially after Paul Scholes' retirement, no midfielder at Manchester United has been willing to spray long, diagonal balls from one end of the pitch to the other in order to switch play. Tonight, we saw this happening on many instances with Herrera and Mata doing the honours.
A couple of seasons ago, many thought it would have been impossible for Manchester United to play without wingers, however van Gaal seems brave enough to remove the traditional wingers from the team, and so far the results have backed his decision.
The signs look good for van Gaal's side, but many forget that this is just pre-season. The real test for van Gaal will begin when the Premier League starts, but before then, he has the chance to test his 'other' formation (4-3-3) against some elite European clubs during this tour.
Although this was a great, morale boosting victory, it is surely too soon to rejoice. I am sure van Gaal would've seen certain areas with plenty of room for improvement during this match, and those areas will need to be patched up before the start of the season. The team's strength and depth will be tested when they face three major European clubs (Roma, Inter Milan and Real Madrid) in a short amount of time. Players like Ander Herrera and Juan Mata have certainly impressed me thus far, but they will need to keep their feet on the ground and work even harder to prove how vital they are to the team when they face oppositions like Real Madrid later on in this tour.
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