5 Things That Ronald Koeman Is Getting Right And Louis Van Gaal Isn't
4. Player Sales
Leading on from the way current youth team products are being integrated into both managers' teams this year, we come to the fact of a number of youth team products have departed both clubs over the summer. Van Gaal has been criticised for his willingness to let home grown players leave in favour of expensive imports, but in the case of Tom Cleverley at least there was a player who would never cut it at the level United want to be at. Aston Villa is likely to be a club more appropriate to a player of Cleverley's quality. Danny Welbeck, however, is another matter. Letting a player like Welbeck, a solidly reliable performer and useful servant of the club even if he will never be a game changing star, join a potential top of the table rival quite so easily had former United player Gary Neville "struggling to understand the logic of the deal in two or three ways really". Van Gaal's assertion that Welbeck simply didn't score enough goals compared to Van Persie suggests a far greater discrepancy than Welbeck's 9 Premier League goals last season opposite Van Persie's 12 and it was the manager's keenness to get rid of the forward that meant Arsenal could control the deal and dictate the price. Meanwhile, the back line of Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand may be well past their best, but in the absence of replacement players it was a poor decision to let their contracts lapse or the players leave for small fees. Southampton, for their part, fought to hold on to their players. While Adam Lallana or Dejan Lovren will be players that will be missed, they were able to drive up the price to a point when it was well worth making the sales in order to make that kind of profit. Luke Shaw's move from Saints to Van Gaal's Man United cost the Red Devils more than all of the money recouped from sales put together. With the England left back yet to make his competitive debut for United, that is looking like a pretty good piece of business for Saints.
