#365DaysOfWriting — Day Sixteen
So long, Louis Van Gaal. Thanks for the FA Cup. And all the ‘memeries’.
Dear Louis Van Gaal,
You’ve beaten Manchester City twice in 2 seasons.
You’ve done the double on Liverpool in 2 seasons. But you lost to them in a crucial Europa League encounter.
You’ve returned from a 3–0 battering at the Emirates and beat Arsenal 3–2 at Old Trafford.
You’ve given us Daley Blind, a reassuring (if not physical presence) at the back. You’ve reinvented the way Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia play. You’ve introduced fresh young legs with Martial and Rashford.
And the most important of all, you made Manchester United FA Cup champions after 12 long years.
But… this is Manchester United we’re talking about. I’ve been a fan of this club for the last 15 years, and I’m telling you, Mr. Van Gaal, even the above achievements aren’t enough. Yes, you took over a shaky team that finished 7th from predecessor David Moyes, and you scored 70 points and helped us qualify for Champions League this season. BUT THIS SEASON… you finished 4 points lower, and a place lower. That means no Champions League next season. And THAT is criminal.
What’s worse is, you got knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages. Even David Moyes managed to get us to a quarter-final with Bayern Munich.
I’m not saying all of Sir Alex’s teams played absolutely beautiful football. They did play ugly. But they got the job done. Sir Alex’s ‘philosophy’ was — get 3 points, and then go on and get 3 more. Repeat until end of season. Simple. Direct. Your philosophy, Mr. Van Gaal, was vague and confusing — and Manchester United gave you two full years to get the players in line with your philosophy. Fans will always fall in line if you get results. There was also never a dearth of goals in a Sir Alex United team — your United team, however, scored 49 goals. Relegation-threatened Sunderland scored 48. This is odd, because last season, Manchester United scored 62 goals under your guidance.
How do you expect to win games if you do not follow football’s one and only simple philosophy — score more goals?
I have immense respect for you sir, for you were one of the torchbearers of Total Football — that which was practiced so beautifully by the Dutch. You have mentored modern-day giants like Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. And initially, when it was announced that you were going to take over, I was very happy. I thought your philosophy could make Manchester United great again. But then, I wonder — was your philosophy linked to Total Football in any way? Because I didn’t find any traces of Total Football in your two years here. Maybe a little sliver here and there, but it was too small to notice. And too little to inspire Manchester United to greater heights. There was talk of discord in the dressing room, and of players being frustrated — I won’t go into that in detail, the media have done it already.
I’m aware that the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson took a huge toll on our team. It shouldn’t have, but it did.
We’d be lying to ourselves if we thought everything was going to be fine and dandy after he went. Heck, David Moyes made it worse. But you gave us some hope. And the least we expected was to be contenders for the Premier League, even if we don’t win it. With all due respect to your philosophy, we didn’t look like contenders this season or last.
Thanks for all the memories then, Mr. Van Gaal. Or is it memeries? I will not lie and say that I will miss you, but I thank you for all your efforts at Old Trafford. Thank you once again, sincerely, for the FA Cup win. I wish you all the very best in your future endeavours, and hope you have a long, happy and healthy life. My happiest memory of your tenure will be the FA Cup victory — so will yours, I think.
With regards and respect,
A Manchester United fan
