Manchester United infected by poor attitude - and it starts with their manager Louis van Gaal

Muddled thinking, a superiority complex and disagreements with players led to Tuesday’s exit, writes The Independent's chief sports writer Ian Herbert

Anthony Martial, Bastian Schweinstieger and Chris Smalling (GETTY IMAGES)

Even in the worst of times, there have been individuals at the heart of Manchester United who would force the squad to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Patrice Evra was one of those very good men in a crisis. “We are Manchester United,” he said after one particularly bad night in Munich. Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic were the same: men’s men, every one.

What on earth would they have made of the spectacle on Tuesday night after Champions League elimination to Wolfsburg of Nick Powell, a player who has vanished without trace after the ignominy of that 4-0 Capital One Cup defeat at Milton Keynes 16 months ago, responding as he did in the mixed zone to the question: “Any chance of a word, Nick?” Powell did not grant so much as a second’s eye contact, pulling a face which said “contempt” as he walked by.

The air of entitlement was breathtaking from one who, on accomplishments so far, is barely fit to shine the boots of those who have gone before.

Given the importance Louis van Gaal tells us he ascribes to the human being behind the player – the totale mens principe as his philosophy is called – the surliness was surprising. But then again, how are we to find any consistency in this manager’s ways and means? Where, given the need for goals on Tuesday, was the rationale behind the decision to leave out Michael Carrick, the one midfield player consistently capable of breaking the opposition’s defensive lines with a forward pass?

That particular enigma is nothing compared with the judgement that the 22-year-old Uruguayan Guillermo Varela, deemed unworthy of a place in the side in the two years since David Moyes bought him, should start rather than Ashley Young – without doubt the single great success story of the Van Gaal era, as a converted wing-back.

Young was the player of United’s last campaign, whose brief substitute’s contribution against PSV Eindhoven a few weeks ago revealed the capacity to be a game-changer. He is defensively robust, capable of working back. But Varela was given the right-back’s jersey and was taken apart by André Schürrle.

The peremptory Van Gaal press conference tone brooks no argument but something has surely happened between the manager and Young, so serious is the error of judgement in junking a player who has started just four games in two months.

Meanwhile Pep Guardiola’s judgement in allowing Bastian Schweinsteiger to leave Bayern Munich for Old Trafford in the summer is coming into sharper focus. Schweinsteiger is the de facto captain in Wayne Rooney’s absence but Tuesday was another anaemic game for him.

The German presumably knows Van Gaal well enough from their time together in Munich to accept with equanimity the way the manager criticised him in Tuesday’s press conference – “I cannot say that he was the Schweinsteiger from my period in Munich in this game.” But can it help the confidence of a player who is seeking to re-establish himself in a more competitive domestic league to hear those words?

Sir Alex Ferguson had something to say about calling out players when speaking at a technology conference recently. “I always thought I had to give a loyalty to my players when I went to Manchester,” the former United manager said. “Offer yourself to them and be prepared to help them in any way you can and in time you are going to get their loyalty back.”

Then again, Ferguson also highlighted the “dangers” of a manager buying players he had once worked with. “The levels are quite often different,” he warned.

The other former players Van Gaal anticipated bringing from Munich – Thomas Müller and Arjen Robben – took one look at where United are and said, “No thanks”. So his side flail, only among the Premier League leaders because Manuel Pellegrini and Jose Mourinho at City and Chelsea have made such a mess of things. With 18 months of his contract to run, the very most Van Gaal seems able to aspire to is a little self-respect at the end of it all. He sees it otherwise, of course. So for now we will continue to witness his superiority complex – an unattractive quality which is self-evidently infecting his bit-part players.