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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2014 Sport 23 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly cloudy VISIBILITY: Good WIND: Variable force 2 to 3 becoming mainly East Northeast force 2 to 3 locally force 3 to 4 SEA: Slight to moderate becoming slight SWELL: Low Easterly SEA TEMP: 24 ° A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. FAIR 23 º C / 14 º C UV INDEX: 4 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits OPINION Across 9. Unparalleled (13) 10. Veterinarian (3) 11. Pencil sketch (7) 12. Repeat (4) 13. Donkey cry (4) 15. Representative (5) 17. Countryman (7) 19. Salt of uric acid (5) 21. Two (3) 23. Palm tree fruit (5) 24. Subordinate type (7) 25. Examine account books (5) 27. Part of verb to be (4) 28. German composer (4) 30. Regulate (7) 32. Obtained (3) 33. Entertainer who does impressions (13) Down 1. Four-footed (9) 2. To use up (5) 3. Obscene (4) 4. One million watts (8) 5. Live (6) 6. Male deer (4) 7. Opponent (9) 8. Spiteful (5) 14. Light wood (5) 16. Short and fat (5) 18. Genuine (9) 20. Pachyderms (9) 22. Star-like symbol (8) 26. Ass (6) 27. Counterfeit (5) 29. Look for (5) 30. Headwear (4) 31. Watch (4) Qxh5+ Kd8 Qd5+ Ke8 Qe6+ d8 Qc8#(Qe7#) Qxg8+ Bf8 Qxf8# WHEN Louis van Gaal first took the job at Old Trafford he regu- larly told the press to ignore his early form, and judge him in three months. Well Louis, it is about that time so let's see how well you have fared as Manchester United manager. Comparatively speaking, United are one point worse off than they were under Moyes this time last season, however despite having a far easier start, one of the easi- est in the league, fans are indeed moaning less so something must be going right for van Gaal. Oh, and let's not forget the six new players signed for over £150 mil- lion. His career at Old Trafford hard- ly enjoyed a honeymoon period as they fell to a 2-1 opening day home defeat to Swansea. Two draws fol- lowed sandwiched between a hu- miliating 4-0 cup defeat at MK Dons. Things hardly looked p un- til united recorded a 4-0 win over QPR, however they instantly came crashing down in that dramatic 5-3 defeat at Leicester Cit y. Despite the rocky start however fans were purring at the progress in the transfer market as Angel di Maria swopped in as a blessing. From day one van Gaal was clear: Manchester United will play his way and started a squad clearance where deadwood was shipped off to rival clubs. Danny Welbeck went to Arsenal while Chicharito and Nani took loans to Spain and Portugal. Tom Cleverly also joined Aston Villa on loan. He was slowly dismantling Sir Alex Ferguson's crumbling old squad and with the departures of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra a new defence, backed by young players was being assembled. This for many fans showed progress and at this stage results did not matter. Three months later however, Louis van Gaal has his most stern test – a home clash with league leaders and un- beaten Chelsea. With no Falcao or Rooney this was going to be a tough test, however they delivered the most "Manchester United " performance so far this campaign and battled to a 1-1 draw through a very, very late Robin van Persie equaliser. It was as though the clocks rolled back years not the standard one hour on Sunday as it was old foe Didier Drogba who opened the score for Chelsea. The media handling for me has been critical to van Gaal 's reign. Like Sir Alex, Louis is not afraid to bite back and has a language barrier to blame when he is be- ing misquoted. David Moyes of- ten appeared to moan at the me- dia while van Gaal simply says it as it is, only once. He refuses to repeat himself and his approach is crystal clear. The main differ- ence between Moyes and van Gaal is the fact that the Dutchman is a winner and has bags of experience with top clubs. Moyes served as a great buffer for Sir Alex, how- ever that rotting stench of decay at Old Trafford seems to be lifting at last. Manchester United may be drift- ing 10 points away from Chelsea however the 1-1 draw gave fans the belief they needed and many play- ers are still talking up their title hopes. Under Moyes he moaned about the transition period how- ever his one mistake was a disas- trous transfer campaign, where despite having the funds avail- able he only landed an off form Marouane Fellaini at a whopping price of £27.5 million. Louis was not afraid to let players go and was blunt when selling Welbeck, saying that his goal to game ratio was simply not good enough for this team. He was right. A point forward with 29 goals in 142 ap- pearances is hardly Manchester United standard, especially when competing with the likes of van Persie and Wayne Rooney. Van Gaal started his career by pleading for time, and time he will be given. He has already stated he intends to complete his three year contract and has reminded us that the title is not won over 10 games. Match day 10 sees United face Champions Cit y and the games from then come thick and fast. Fans are hoping the players are clicking at the right time and as the injury list at last begins to shorten it seems that van Gaal 's methods are at last being under- stood. A win over your neighbours is usually just the tonic and with Manchester Cit y's inconsistent form of late you can hardly find a better time to face them. The only issue is that this is a derby in which United have struggled in the past couple of seasons and in a derby form does go out of the win- dow. Undefeated in the last four games, can van Gaal completely win all the fans over with a win this Sunday? That for me is his real test this season and I cannot wait for the 14:30 kick off. Mark Strijbosch Louis Van Gaal's half term review Louis Van Gaal