Opinion: Van Gaal Tactical Change Vital

ManUtd.com's Ben Hibbs assesses the tactical change and influence of James Wilson that turned around the battle with QPR...

The calls of “attack, attack, attack” from the away end at Loftus Road may not have underpinned headstrong Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal’s second-half move to a more risk-taking and attacking style of play, but his substitutions and tactical shape-shifting were critical to turning the game in the Reds' favour.

“It was a change to attack, and with a lot of risk,” van Gaal said of his decision to bring on the muscle of Marouane Fellaini and the razor-sharp rapidity of James Wilson, replacing injured centre-back Jonny Evans, while Angel Di Maria moved to a more effective deeper position in a bolder 4-4-2 formation.

Perhaps it was the intent of that change rather than any tangible immediate difference in play that delivered a goal within a minute of Wilson’s introduction, but it was symbolic if nothing else. And, when Fellaini smashed home his third goal of the season on 58 minutes, United were on the road to victory, even though the final half an hour wasn’t without tension and concern that QPR could level.

That risk is a point of caution for van Gaal, but it was nevertheless exciting to witness Wilson's pace tearing through the QPR defence. That itself was a tactical ploy – to give Di Maria space to create, van Gaal said he had to use Wilson’s athleticism to stretch the game.

The 19-year-old striker twice almost set up Falcao and, right at the end, his speed and determination delivered his first goal of the season and United's second of the afternoon. The natural thought then for the thrill-seekers among us is to demand United play that way every minute, every week, but van Gaal insists he is still finding the right balance in his team as players return from injury.

"When we play with four midfielders in a diamond, we create more chances,” he said after the game. “But then the balance of the team is weak. We have to decide every week how we have to play. That is the question."

The Reds started with a 3-5-2 set-up but the application wasn't right. "In the first half, we played like Queens Park Rangers wanted," said the boss. "We played in the same way as QPR – high balls through the air – and Queens Park Rangers are better [at that]. You have to play the ball along the floor, in spite of the fact that the pitch was difficult.”

There is an element of necessity in the team tinkering and tactical trial and error, even six months into the season, but eventually that should give way to a more established rhythm. Striving for defensive solidity is a foundation upon which van Gaal would clearly like to build his United team, but equally the club's traditions of risk-taking in attack never fail to excite, and few players embody that better than Wilson with his youthful exuberance and fearlessness, and he helped transform and complete the win at Loftus Road.

Credit: manutd.com