Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had a dig at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tactics.
Louis van Gaal said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer "parks the bus right in front of David de Gea" as he criticised the Manchester United manager again.
Solskjaer signed a permanent three-year deal last month after overseeing an upturn in results at United, however, the Red Devils have struggled since.
United – sixth in the Premier League and two points adrift of the top four – have lost five of their past seven matches in all competitions following a 4-0 Champions League quarter-final exit to Barcelona.
Former United boss Van Gaal, who initially questioned Solskjaer's approach after replacing Jose Mourinho in December, insisted the club favourite is defensive in his tactics.
"I can see how Ole had some impact in the beginning, because United were ninth in the table when he took over and the team was nothing," Van Gaal said via the Mirror. "United had been playing anti-football, as I call it, but don't think that Ole isn't afraid to park the bus either — he is more defensive than you think.
"I have been watching the team, because I always look at United still, and Ole parked the bus against Arsenal. He did it against Tottenham in the league. And at stages against Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the Champions League.
"He plays against all the big teams like that. The emphasis is more on defending than on attacking or wanting to play dominant football. I actually call it parking the bus. Ole does it not just outside the 18-yard box. He parks the bus right in front of [goalkeeper] David de Gea."
Van Gaal – who was sacked by United after winning the FA Cup in 2016 – added: "When United play that way, they play 4-4-2 and play counter-attacking football with Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku. They are gambling on the speed of those two because they are faster than their opponents when they get the space. Rashford’s pace is incredible. You don’t catch him when he breaks away.
"But if Man United want to be a dominant force in Europe again - and in England - they have to have a different playing style.
"The problem as a foreign manager is that you find out that the English football culture is different from Germany and Spain. In those countries, you work on things in training. In England, everything is done by playing matches.
"They get fitter or gain stamina by playing lots of matches. It is a culture you cannot change easily. I wanted to change things, but it proved very difficult."
Cuebcdiltz
71
We pressed Barca right in their own half and played very high line against them,against Arsenal we away we have more of the pocession we created 5 great chance but Lukaku missed every chance he had and the goal Arsenal scored were from penalty(soft penalty), and De Gea should have saved the other one. We were played bad against Wolves,WestHam,Watford but bcoz we are playing open attacking football.It's not Ole's fault if he had got Jones,Young,Rojo,Lukaku,Matic who doesn't fit our style of play we are playing attacking football but we are missing easy chances and we couldn't defend. LVG wants attention and he thinks he played attacking football but he played booring pocession based game with no intention of scoring but just move it sideways and backward. Most of our goals are from counter attack bcoz we haven't got good finishers and midfielders(except Pogba) who could create chances. By the way we didn't park the bus around De Gea it's playing out from the back which Pep and Klopp also does with sweeper keepers and two ball playing CB and we just Lindelof who is comfortable with his feet and could play out from the back
yuzlat
60
Mr philosophy Luis van Gaal, we wished u a blessed retirement when u announced ur retirement from football, I don't think u've retired well for not giving urself a peace of for monitoring Man Utd up and down...you played the most boring style of football at Man Utd. you were paired with PSV, CSK Moscow, Wolfsburg in champions league stage but the worst u did to surprise the world was dt u couldn't qualify, all the players u bought were mediocre except Martial, u hv de likes of Di Maria and u couldn't get the best out of him...it befits Mourhino to talk about Man Utd than this old man. for me to even call a spade a spade, u're a complete failure at Man Utd...
lukzlat910
46
I've been watching every United game since Ole took over and this is what I've realised about Solskjaer's tactics, against big teams he parks the bus But there's a massive difference between Ole parking it and Mourinho parking it, when Mou parked the bus he stayed behind and they only passed back and back and back only leaving to De Gea to clear it upfield but lose possession Ole on the other hand, he parks the bus but once he gets the ball, he presses high on the counter but the problem is we don't make the best of our chances and waste them thus demotivating us and causes us to lose like we did against Arsenal and Barca