Why Van Gaal should LEAVE Man Utd at the end of the season

 

 The Dutchman was brought in to arrest United's slide and has done exactly that, but he cannot be relied upon to take them to the next stage in the coming monthsWhile Louis van Gaal talks often of his impending retirement from football management in 2017, it might well be in everyone’s best interests to bring the end date forward by a year regardless of Manchester United’s trophy haul come the end of this season.

It is arguable that Van Gaal’s reign as United manager has been a success story to this point when placed in the context of the panic setting in before his arrival in England.

The failures of the David Moyes era left United needing a quick fix. When Sir Alex Ferguson finally ended his unparalleled 26-year spell at Old Trafford, the club had employed the wrong kind of character to keep them in the hunt for major honours and were left looking for a firefighter within a year.

In Van Gaal they found exactly the kind of man they required. They had money to throw at the problem and the backdrop of a disastrous season post-Ferguson. That all combined to ensure the Dutchman had backing in terms of both time and finances, and his return so far has been more than adequate.

Champions League football was demanded of him in his first season, and last year’s fourth-placed finish delivered the desired return to Europe’s top table. Now United are expected to challenge for trophies, and they have been within touching distance of the Premier League summit throughout the current campaign.


*Includes one defeat on penalties

But over the last couple of weeks some cracks have begun to appear, bringing about painful flashbacks for followers of the 64-year-old’s career. In 2009, the former Barcelona coach was snapped up by Bayern Munich under similar circumstances to those which brought him to Old Trafford.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s eight-month stint at Sabener Strasse had been slapdash at best, with the former striker’s approach to training among other things leading to concerns from players and board members alike. Results helped to twist the knife, and his sacking led Bayern to look for an immediate bounce-back.

They got that with Van Gaal, who led them to a league and cup double in his first campaign with a Champions League final appearance added for good measure… all after a tough opening to the season. Yet in his sophomore year he couldn’t replicate the success, and his overbearing ways helped to force him out of the door.

While his decisions themselves were sometimes considered to be the right ones, the way in which he carried them out often caused consternation. Players didn’t take to his forthright, impersonal style, and while some – most notably Luca Toni – found relief elsewhere, others were left having to make the best of the situation. He also dropped experienced goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt in favour of 22-year-old Thomas Kraft with little or no warning for anyone at the club, including those who had stuck by him in his difficult first few months in charge.

By the spring, Bayern were out of the Champions League and in danger of failing to qualify for the following season’s edition. With Van Gaal’s philosophy now taking on a new face, the club was moved to act before he outstayed his welcome any further.



“It all started getting messy when he dropped Butt and replaced him with Kraft,” said president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in announcing Van Gaal’s departure. “That brought insecurity into the defence and we could not hold out for much longer.

“Football should be enjoyable, but there has been nothing enjoyable about football at FC Bayern for a while now. And to say that he had the players behind him was a myth.”

Director Uli Hoeness was even more scathing in 2013, blasting: “Louis van Gaal does not think that he is god, but the father of god. Even before the world started to exist, Louis was already there.”

Right now, Manchester United’s players continue to back Van Gaal publicly but their collective body language seems to be increasingly nervy and negative as his second season in charge wears on.

Meanwhile, the football itself has been anything but enjoyable for United’s fans. At Crystal Palace last weekend, there were choruses of “We’re Man United, we want to attack” as the Red Devils stretched their winless streak to four games amid a 325-minute goal famine. The current situation is fast feeling like a disappointing case of deja vu rather than the beginning of a new era of success.

Van Gaal insists he wants his side to play the more attractive style he has become familiar with over the years but admitted it is not easy to employ in the demanding environment that is English football.

“We try to do that but I think the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is more difficult to develop that,” he told reporters on Monday. “You can see that every week, and not only with Manchester United but also with the other teams. Anybody can win or lose against anyone else. Maybe it is more difficult in the Premier League, I don’t know, but we are trying to do that and not only the players but also the manager and the staff.

“I think we are improving every day, and you can see that in the results we have made.”







In truth, results – and returns in front of goal – are beginning to belie Van Gaal’s assessment. And while the Dutchman repeatedly talks of sticking around until 2017, his job will surely be done either way this term.

The firefighter has fulfilled his role. He came in and repaired the Moyes mess, returning United to Europe and making them relevant in title talk once more. Was his appointment ever about building a new era? Surely the Van Gaal legacy was always going to be based on notable short-term gains more than any early foundations for the future.

Van Gaal spoke recently of the influence Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt have had on promoting youth in the mind of the manager, and if the Dutchman’s claim that Giggs will replace him at the helm is anything to go by then they are the right men to be given the final say in the development of the club’s future talents.

It is the here and now that Van Gaal has been tasked with addressing, and the recovery job has been completed as far as it can be in the parameters set by the manager's so-called philosophy. Whether United finish first or fourth this term they are at least back in the reckoning, and a third campaign under a man who still isn’t sure whether his approach suits this league would be frivolous in the least.

Whatever the succession plan, whoever is truly lined up as the next manager of Manchester United, the move should be made in 2016. Next season should be about looking forward, not going sideways. Titles or not, the Van Gaal experiment has already run its course.