Remember when Van Gaal tried to engage the English media in a discussion about "long ball" and all they got from that was "wow, he's so wound up by Big Sam" and no one even tried to check the merits of what he was saying? All they want is soundbites from managers and that is why they are always licking Mou's behind. That's is mainly what the public is interested in though so I can't blame him.

That Van Gaal long ball thing was embarrassing, to be fair.

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Big Sam has a reputation in England for being a long ball manager.

When we drew with West Ham after the game he had a dig at us saying that we were a long ball team because we played some to Fellaini.

Van Gaal went all Hafi in his next press with a portfolio of stats about how many long balls were played and what a long ball is.

It was embarrassing and he was rightly laughed at, despite there being merit to his stats.

Could you imagine if the Chosen One had done that?

Why exactly was it embarrasing? Seem to be proving my point really.

It is embarrassing that the coach of Manchester United, the biggest club in England, actually wasted his time doing that. It was also embarrassing that he got so irritated by Allardyce's remarks.

Ferguson would have brushed that off by slaughtering West Ham.

Are you serious?

Exactly, Henrik. It was embarrassing seeing him get on the defensive so much over something like that.

Fergie would have brushed it off because he knows it is pointless trying to get into any sort of discussion with the British public. I am certain managers in other countries defend their tactics in public because they know an intellectual vaccum doesn't exist among the public like it does in England. The only thing embarassing about it is he gave the English public too much credit to begin with. Now that he know the culture that exists there, I doubt he will try to do that in the future.


Same people are the ones that suck Mou off everytime he embarasses himself because "he's such a wum OMG Jose say something else to take us out of our boring existence"

Also he wasn't really reacting to Big Sam but the fact the media and the public ran with it like it was fact giggling like school girls.

Of course he was reacting to Big Sam.

He said 'copy it and go to Big Sam', for fack sake.

Managers in England do speak about their tactics too.

The way Van Gaal was doing it was utterly embarrassing, and even though an element of what he was saying was right, Allardyce did have a point.

Manchester United were largely boring for many periods of last season, and it clearly struck a nerve.

If he reacts like that to a coach of a mid-table club like West Ham then how on earth will he react if Mourinho (I know they worked together, but that will go out the window) decides to criticise him?

The media do like to build things up in England, admittedly, but a lot of the coaches dive right into it.

"Van Gaal has had problems with the media in the past, most notably in Barcelona, but he will never have encountered anything quite like England.
The forced wackiness of transfer deadline day, when middle-aged people behave like four-year-olds, reflects a culture that has gone terribly wrong, where almost everything is geared towards a perceived audience who are very stupid – even though Gary Neville’s insightful Monday Night seminars have been a complete triumph. "Such exceptions only highlight the poverty of the coverage as well. A culture of wilful gormlessness and collective trolling has developed, in which everyone is apparently allergic to nuance, and it’s getting worse by the day. Much of it is down to the pressure to fill rolling news and the panic created by the need for internet hits; every day banal quotes transmogrify into sensational headlines. The clickbait war of the 2010s is a dispiritingly naff version of the tabloid war of the 1980s.

"Van Gaal’s biggest mistake was to think he could educate or reason with those entrenched in such a culture. It was a clumsy but sincere plea for reason and maturity when it comes to coverage of United and especially discussion of tactics. He’d have had more joy trying to explain Kierkegaard to a zombie."


From an article on Eurosport when the press conference took place.

It was met with the derision it deserved. He wasn't trying to educate anyone, he was trying to defend himself from someone he didn't need to defend himself from.

He got upset that what Allardyce was saying in terms of long-balls may not have been entirely correct, but the essence of his point about United playing rather boring football hit home deeply.

I am not saying it is up there with Benitez's "facts" rant, but it is exactly the same reaction.

I'd have loved to see Ferguson at United, and Van Gaal at another big club in the Premier League, he'd have absolutely terrorised him.

And whilst there is a lot of nonsense in the English press, I think at times the press here can be just as bad.

Van Gaal wasn't trying to educate anyone. He got on the defensive because Allardyce finally found himself in a position to have a dig at United.

Funny how much you are focussing on Van Gaal but completely ignore a childish culture that is before you everyday. What Van Gaal did was misguided at best and stupid at worst but my point stands. There is an intellectual blackhole in the English football culture characterized by a constant thirst for soundbites and "banter." not that I don't like those things but if they are ALWAYS in the way of any sensible debate or discussion, there is clearly something terribly wrong. There is a reason why I infinitely enjoy non-football threads on this site than the football threads. There is still banter but not in the way of a sensible, intellectually stimulating debate.

Actually same thing happens on this very thread where an attempt to stir debate ends in "banter" without people actually discussing the issue, and dare you not agree with the majority. Its just a culture that is ingrained in the football culture in the country that you can't escape it.

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"even tho deadline is officially midnight they get it all done by 7 and then have dinner then off to a
bunga-bunga party at Berlusconis place."

We are focussing on Van Gaal because you are the one that disagreed with it being embarrassing.

Still strange how you focussed on that and only that even before I had posted my opinion on Van Gaal. My post was about the infantile culture in English football circles but you made it about Van Gaal. Must be difficult to admit something you are part of though.

I don't disagree with the essence of your point overall, but I find you are generalising too many supporters into what is entirely the fault of the media.

English football fans criticise Sky, but it is largely responsible for the fact clubs like Wigan can spend more than Ajax or Celtic for example.

You used it as an example to justify your point, for me it was a bad example as it was embarrassing and deserved ridicule, which you disagree with, and now here we are.

Your generalising of the British public and it's footballing culture I couldn't be bothered to argue with.

The media angle is also generalised as not all publications act in the same way.

But as an African who doesn't live in England I wouldn't expect you to know this, or is that generalising?

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I have criticized the culture in football circles, not the fans. Like I have said, the same people I have great debates on non-football threads.

Same thing this week, Mou tries to have a dig at Wenger, the media go round giggling because he is winding up Wenger, fans follow suit, Wenger brushes it off, the media report "Wenger responds to Mou" and try to make it out like there is a war of words.

Pathetic.