MAYBE it started, at last, in Dusseldorf on Thursday night: Manchester United’s journey back. Perhaps Angel di Maria took the first steps.
The Argentinian was rampant for his country against Germany, producing a goal and three assists. He showed pace, technique, flair, a riotous confidence: who has ever dinked the great Manuel Neuer?
His display must have felt like an awakening for those of Manchester United persuasion. Di Maria not only provided assurance that, yes, their club has hired one of the world’s prime players, he mapped out the football to which United hope to return. Fearless virtuosity characterised the club’s best sides. Di Maria’s record fee, £59.7m, has bought them a piece of it again.
Ryan Giggs said: “He’s a proper Manchester United player. He can go from box to box quickly. He takes players on. And he’s got the pass that he produced at Burnley for Robin [van Persie]. He’s got all the attributes to be a top player for United. He had four great seasons at Real Madrid and he’s going to be a fans’ favourite with us for sure.”
Radamel Falcao has the right class and components, too. The loan signing of the Colombian striker, at an overall cost of £20m for a single year, was the Premier League’s boldest deal on transfer deadline day. “I’m excited about him, he’s an absolute quality player and we just have to see how he fits in,” Giggs said. “We have so many options up front now and it’s the manager’s job to make sure he gets the best out of them. How will it work? I don’t know yet. But once it does click it’s going to be great.”
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Giggs was back in Wales last week for some grassroots coaching, spending Monday afternoon at Flint Town United, where he took groups of Under-11 boys and Under-8 girls through dribbling and shooting routines before posing for photographs. “Over the last six months I’ve gained more confidence in coaching situations and feel more at home; with children it’s a case of giving a few pointers and having fun.”
Fun is still important in adult football, too. Buying Di Maria and Falcao suggests that for all Louis van Gaal talks of “programming” players, expression and enjoyment are at the core of the United he envisages. The start to the season may have been testing but Giggs knows his manager’s vision.
“Crisp passing is central to it. And all good teams are built of a solidity at the back. But we also want to have exciting players who get the fans on their feet and show individual brilliance and individual magic,” Giggs said. “We’ve now got players who can do that and fit the structure of how Louis wants to play.
“The philosophy of the club is attacking football and giving youth a chance. Louis stands for all those things. OK, it’s not happened in the first three [Premier League] games but we have faith that we will get there.”
Giggs is appreciative that fans have faith, too. “They realise there’s a top manager there and we’ve brought in good players who are having to gel,” he said. Changing to 3-5-2 and injuries to such as Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera have slowed progress, he believes.
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And there’s another factor: “We’ve lost a lot of experience in that dressing room. Patrice [Evra], Rio [Ferdinand], Nemanja [Vidic], myself — a lot of experience. It isn’t going to happen overnight that you replace players like that. You’ve got to take your time.”
He thinks “you’ve seen bits of it” but not anything like the whole of what Van Gaal is trying to create. “I’m definitely seeing improvements in individuals and, when we look at [video], when we do things properly and in the way we set out, we cause teams a lot of problems. It’s a case of doing them more consistently.
“Louis wants everything, every pass, done a certain way. He’s big on using your brain on the pitch. He wants his players to develop and to use their brains as well as physical aspects. It’s going to be a slow process but the players are taking it on board.”
Working with Van Gaal is illuminating. “The way he commands training sessions” is one revelation. His exacting standards are another. “He’s precise on timings and what he wants to get out of a session,” Giggs said. “It might only be 60-70 minutes but he wants it done properly, with the rhythm and pace of a game.”
After finally retiring, 23 years and 25 major medals on from beginning as a United player, Giggs completed his coaching badges in the summer by passing his Pro- Licence. Van Gaal is keen to develop his No 2. “He’s given me the responsibility of taking a couple of team meetings [before games] and every time I do that it gives me more and more experience and more and more confidence.”
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Giggs already knows, of course, what being Manchester United manager involves. In his stint as caretaker at the end of last season, “I learnt so much, even though it was only three weeks and four games.
“Until you’re in the manager’s position you don’t really know what it entails. You’re pulled from pillar to post and there are so many things you have to do. It’s a total different ball game, one that takes you out of your comfort zone.”
Giggs hopes the grassroots initiative he’s fronting, supported by McDonald’s, can help maintain Wales’ recent success at producing young players. “Rugby will always be a major competitor here but football has a massive following and the success of Swansea and Cardiff can only help and when you’ve someone like Gareth Bale to look up to, and quality players like [Aaron] Ramsey and Joe Allen there, it’s inspiring to kids,” he said. “The main thing is to get a successful national side, and hopefully we can.”
Wales’ Euro 2016 campaign begins away to Andorra on Tuesday and Giggs sees the fixture schedule as an opportunity — next are home matches versus Bosnia and Cyprus. “If you’re looking to qualify, you beat the teams like Andorra and once you get off to a good start the media and public can get behind you and momentum can build,” he said. “You have that added incentive that two teams qualify automatically and there’s a chance for a third. And when you’ve Gareth Bale in your team you’ve definitely got a chance.”
Angel di Maria, too. Ryan Giggs, McDonald’s new head of Welsh football, was speaking at the launch of McDonald’s new four-year community partnership with the Football Association of Wales. McDonald’s is giving more than 7,000 accredited junior football clubs one free kit every season for the next four years with the potential for more than 250,000 kits to be distributed across the UK, as part of their work supporting grassroots football clubs. For more information go to www. mcdonalds.co.uk/betterplay