PASADENA, CALIFORNIA // Louis van Gaal’s new-look Manchester United sent a warning to the rest of the Premier League in a 7-0 thrashing of the LA Galaxy.
The Dutchman took control of the team just last week, but his switch to a free-wheeling, attack-oriented formation with only three defenders could prove to be a nightmare for their English opponents, as well as a stark departure from the safety-first, even timid David Moyes system of last season.
Wayne Rooney, Reece James and Ashley Young each scored twice, and Danny Welbeck got the first in the rout of the four-time Major League Soccer champions, who once counted David Beckham in their ranks.
Ander Herrera, in his first appearance in a United shirt since coming over from Athletic Bilbao, assisted each of Young’s goals in the final minutes of the comprehensive victory.
The Rose Bowl, primarily a college football stadium, seats 92,000. It was more than 90 per cent full, with an announced crowd of 86,432, despite the cost of tickets averaging about US$70 (Dh257), climbing to $500 on the secondary market.
As for the contest, it was no contest.
“Always, results matter,” Van Gaal said. “With such results you get confidence, and you get confidence in the new system because we introduced a new system in the training sessions. We have played 11 v 11 twice with the new system, which may not be that much, but the boys are willing to pick up all the information we have given them. They performed fantastic today.”
Of United’s play, Van Gaal said: “Last week I wasn’t at Manchester United and 10 players who played tonight were not at the training complex. When you see us train, you can expect something but not 7-0. That was also a surprise to me. They were all not just beautiful football goals but they were out of beautiful attacks.”
“To win 7-0 is better than losing. Now I don’t have that problem. It was fantastic how the boys performed.”
Asked to expand on the “new system”, essentially variations on a three-back formation, he said: “When you want to change a system you have to start at once because we don’t have time to prepare other things. The other system Man United can play is 4-3-3; they have played this system for many years. I can change this system when it doesn’t work.
“With the quality of the players I have I think we can play better with this system because we have four strikers. For example, when we play 4-3-3, then I have three strikers on the bench and I think that is not good. That is why I want to play with two strikers. Also, we have four number 10s, so the selection is not balanced in my eyes. Because of that, I have decided to play in this system. Only because of the quality of the players, but when that doesn’t work I’ll change it to a 4-3-3.”
Bruce Arena, the Galaxy coach, believes Van Gaal’s tactical approach should yield results in the Premier League.
“They’re playing a style that their manager is very comfortable and familiar with in his career,” Arena said. “They’re playing a back three and some version of a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3, and that’s a big change for a Manchester United club that’s traditionally played 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, at times.
“So it’s a different style, but it looks tactically a lot like what we saw out of the Dutch team in the World Cup. That’s his style of play and I’m sure he’s going to get some new players and be even a little more dangerous going forward, and get the players that fit those tactics in the right way.”
Young, the midfielder, was coy about United’s new look.
“I don’t like to give away too many of our ideas, but obviously when we defend, we defend as a team and when we attack, we attack as a team,” he said. “The fluidity between all the players going around and changing, you can see that in the first half and the second half. We got on the score sheet and we didn’t slow down, so we were going to get more goals.”
Arena had no qualms with United piling on goals. “I have nothing but the greatest respect for the show that they put on. A bunch of guys out there fighting for jobs and it looked that way.”
The visiting celebrities scored three times in the first half. Juan Mata took advantage of some sloppy play in the Galaxy defence to win possession and feed Danny Welbeck for a 25-yard strike off the left post.
It remained 1-0 until Rooney scored twice just ahead of half time, on a penalty and from point-blank range when a routine cross snuck embarrassingly through the legs of Galaxy back Tommy Meyer.
Who should have been the sharper side? The Galaxy are in the middle of their Major League Soccer schedule; United had not played since May, and Van Gaal took over just last week.
James, a 20-year-old reserve midfielder not listed on the United team sheet, got his pair of goals in the second half, as Galaxy resistance collapsed. Young finished the massacre with two goals in the final three minutes against the demoralized hosts, with the help of Herrera.
The Galaxy’s Robbie Keane, who spent more than a decade in the Premier League, was particularly impressed by Herrera. “I thought he was fantastic. I thought he was the best player on the pitch by far.”
The world-renowned club’s swelling ranks of American supporters didn’t wait for the kickoff, starting the party as soon as the parking lots opened.
Fans celebrating the team began arriving on the grounds as much as six hours before the match began. Congregating mainly in a “fun zone” on a lawn south of the stadium, where overpriced merchandise and food booths formed a ring, supporters clad in red sang, bounced, and brandished flags, scarfs and favoured shirts. Rooney. Mata. Van Persie. Best.
United supporters seemed to outnumber Galaxy fans by Germany-over-Brazil proportions.
With United in possession of the ball most of the match, the din remained constant inside the venerable stadium, escalating when goalie De Gea made a save, when midfielder Mata displayed some deft footwork, and so on. If it wasn’t Old Trafford, it was an engaged California crowd. Not always an easy feat pleasing the natives, as local baseball, basketball and football teams can attest.
One day in to the Van Gaal regime, a good time was had by all, with what ought to be a sterner test coming up versus Roma in Denver on Saturday, with Inter and Real Madrid following next week.
sports@thenational.ae
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
Ukraine
Capital: Kiev
Population: 44.13 million
Armed conflict in Donbass
Russia-backed fighters control territory
Martin Sabbagh profile
Job: CEO JCDecaux Middle East
In the role: Since January 2015
Lives: In the UAE
Background: M&A, investment banking
Studied: Corporate finance
TO%20CATCH%20A%20KILLER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDamian%20Szifron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shailene%20Woodley%2C%20Ben%20Mendelsohn%2C%20Ralph%20Ineson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
