Louis van Gaal didn’t win much during his two seasons as Manchester United manager. The only trophy he earned was the FA Cup, and that came in his very last match, one in which it was already common knowledge that he was on his way out; to be replaced by Jose Mourinho. Van Gaal’s second and final team was known for being extremely pragmatic, to the point of tedium.
Van Gaal himself was notorious for often being condescending and sometimes even hostile to the media. All of this was certainly grounds for dismissal, but to hear the Dutchman tell it, he was let go for different reasons.
Van Gaal claims the decision was made to simply follow the money, all about profits off the pitch, and not what was going on on it. LVG says Executive Vice President Ed Woodard blatantly told him so.
“Manchester United had record (financial) figures in the two years that I was there. And don’t underestimate what that means for United. Nothing as important as the figures for United,” said Van Gaal. (quotes transcript via Tribal Football)
“Look, every big club needs a good organization. The people in charge can run the club in football way or in a commercial way.
“At Manchester United the balance has tipped well over to the commercial side. Were they unhappy about the results or the performances of the team under my management?
“No. But all of a sudden they could get Mourinho for the long term, a manager with a massive commercial value in the world. Woodward finally said this exactly so to me the day after the FA Cup Final.”
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho made comments related to this era at the club which are also a hot topic. He said that the club failed to evolve under both Van Gaal and Moyes.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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