Louis van Gaal would do well to spend his lunchtime today watching a DVD of an old FA Cup game. The contest in mind is the 1999 semi-final replay at Villa Park between Manchester United and Arsenal, the club Van Gaal’s men face in the quarter-finals tonight.
He should watch it not just because it is an absurdly entertaining contest, or because he will be reminded of the audacious skill of the man who is his assistant. Most of all, he should watch it to understand what fans mean when they talk about the DNA of United.
For those who love United, the replay at Villa Park is more than a football match; it symbolises the qualities that made the Sir Alex Ferguson era so special. The drama started hours before kick-off when the Scot dropped Ryan Giggs, Andrew Cole and Dwight Yorke, who between them had contributed 56 goals during the campaign.
This not only revealed Ferguson’s pioneering use of squad rotation — he had an eye on the Champions League semi-final, second leg against Juventus a week later — it also spoke of the trust he had in his players.
Teddy Sheringham, Jesper Blomqvist and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the replacements, were told by their manager during the pre-match team talk that they were more than capable of taking the fight to Arsenal.
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The key moments in the match itself will always be etched in the memory: the David Beckham goal on 17 minutes, the ball seeming to turn sideways as it made its way into the corner; the Dennis Bergkamp equaliser for Arsenal 22 minutes into the second half; Roy Keane’s sending-off; then the majestic Peter Schmeichel penalty save from Bergkamp in the dying moments of normal time.
But it was in extra time that this United side morphed from a very good team into one of the finest in history. It was one of those rare occasions when, even at the time, it was clear that something historic was being witnessed.
United were running on fumes, exhausted, a man down, still fighting on three fronts towards the end of a gruelling season. Yet they continued to take the game to Arsenal.
Beckham was still getting up and down the right flank. Gary Neville was still barking instructions. Nicky Butt was still ferocious in the tackles. Paul Scholes, who had gone on to the pitch during the second half, was finding passes that no one else could see.
“Where is their energy coming from?” the television commentator gasped. “It almost defies belief, but United are still in this match.”
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It was in the second period of extra time that Ferguson made the decisive intervention, replacing Blomqvist with Giggs. The Welshman would go on to score one of the most wonderful goals in FA Cup history in the 109th minute.
But let us focus on the instruction issued to Giggs as he prepared to leave the bench. “Get on, Ryan,” Ferguson said. “[Lee] Dixon is tiring. Don’t be afraid to run at him. Try to make something happen.”
This is revelatory because it epitomises an enduring aspect of the Ferguson philosophy. Like all great managers, he was deeply aware of the importance of a solid defence. In that 1999 squad, for instance, he had Jaap Stam, Denis Irwin (injured for the replay), Neville and the incomparable Schmeichel.
Yet Ferguson was also a risk-taker. He wanted his sides to go for the jugular. Even with ten men on the pitch and his players tiring, Ferguson did not want his substitute to hold the ball and strangle the game. Rather, he wanted a goal.
“This match has had everything,” the commentator gasped moments after Giggs’s slaloming masterpiece. “If a pantomime horse were to gallop across the pitch, you wouldn’t be surprised.”
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This, I think, is what United fans have in mind today when they shout “attack, attack”. They want the team to have thorough organisation, but they also crave the derring-do that characterised the great teams of the past.
This is not just about the imprint left on the club by Ferguson; it reaches back to the great attacking sides constructed by Sir Matt Busby.
This is ultimately what is meant by “United’s DNA”. It is the sense, cherished by fans at Old Trafford and implicitly understood by football people around the world, that United have a wider cultural meaning. Audacity, tempo, width, youth: these are the qualities associated with United at their best. It is why fans regard the club not just as a vehicle for the tactical whims of the latest manager, but as a living institution with a history and purpose.
A week after the victory over Arsenal, United came back to win from two goals down against Juventus, then snatched the European Cup from under the noses of Bayern Munich.
In his autobiography, Gary Neville reflected on the final few moments of the final, sprinting to take a throw-in high up the pitch on the opposite flank. “Why did I do that?” he wrote. “What was I doing running all that way? And it’s simple really: it’s what I’d been taught to do since I was a kid at United. You keep playing, you keep driving, you keep sprinting until the death.”
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I love that quote because it neatly captures the United way. It is about risk and glory, daring and determination. Football tactics change over time, but these qualities are eternal. Picture the figure of Ferguson after the equaliser at the Nou Camp, waving his players forward, daring a remarkable team to achieve the impossible with a second goal. The stuff of a million dreams.
Van Gaal has a strong track record as a manager and has produced an impressive sequence of results in recent months. But one hopes that a coach of his quality will find a way of connecting his ideas about tactics with the spirit of United’s past. It is an approach that will please fans and provide the best hope of creating an equally golden future.