Louis van Gaal has been getting a lot of heat in the media this month. Apparently players aren’t happy with his discipline and decisions, and fans aren’t happy with his style of play. Well, guess what – Van Gaal’s Manchester United is doing some important things so well it’s practically miraculous. They’re just not the things that fans and the media seem to appreciate.

I’ve already posted here that Van Gaal seems to be overachieving given the talent – including a lot of young players – at his disposal. But how is he doing it? In a word, defending. Currently, no team presses as well as Manchester United. The team ends almost 40% of opponents’ possessions using pressure; no other club comes close. Moreover, only one club presses higher up the field, and even then, just barely:

Manchester United has an insanely high, aggressive, and successful press by the standards of the English Premier League. Only about 5% of Manchester United’s opponents’ possessions lead to shots. That’s a tiny number that only one other club in the league comes close to matching.

And of course, this pays dividends in the attack. Fully two thirds of Manchester United’s shots from open play come from attacks that start in the final third – another figure that no other team can match. Not surprisingly, these attacks yield excellent shots. For non-headers in open play, Manchester United has the highest quality shots of any team, with expected goals averaging almost 12% in NYA’s basic model. Again, that’s an amazingly high number.

Manchester United may not be easy on the eye, but Van Gaal knows what he’s doing. He lacks superstars in attack, so he relies on the unglamorous virtues of defending to push his club up the table. Plenty of other teams would be lucky to have him in charge. The question is whether another manager could bring Manchester United the flair its fans want without sacrificing the formidable defensive system that Van Gaal has built.