Why Winning the FA Cup Will Not Be Enough to Save Louis van Gaal
Louis van Gaal must be removed as manager of Manchester United whether or not his team win Saturday's FA Cup final.
The FA Cup is a fine trophy to win, and many supporters will be giddy at the prospect of their club getting their hands back on the trophy they had once won more than any other team.
However, a regression in league position, a questionable transfer record and a season of the least entertaining football in recent memory all combine to mean that regardless of whether it ends on a high, this must be Van Gaal's last season in charge of United.
If he were a young manager in the early stages of a long contract, then maybe the FA Cup could be seen as a sign of the kind of mentality needed to build a winning squad in the medium or long term. However, two-thirds of the way through a three-year deal, there is no reason to believe Van Gaal will make dramatic improvements next season.
After all, on top of everything that has gone wrong this season, in 2016/17, Van Gaal would be a lame duck—an authority figure stripped of power. Players would only have a year to wait him out. Maybe even less than that.
If next season gets off to a bad start—hardly a fanciful scenario given the many poor periods this season—the pressure would be immense.
There is already evidence and rumours of discontent within the dressing room. The wisdom of Andreas Pereira's public expression of dissatisfaction with Van Gaal may be questionable, but it is on the record. He told Gabriel Pazini of Goal:
"I wanted to be loaned out in January in order to play more and to keep developing myself, but Van Gaal told me that he did not want me to be loaned out. He told me to stay in Manchester because he would use me and that I would play.
I told him that was fine, and that if I could stay and play then I would. He did not let me leave. I took the decision and now I'm training, doing my job and waiting for him to fulfil his word.
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James Ducker of the Telegraph recently reported that David De Gea would be much less likely to stay at United if Van Gaal remains in charge.
Neil Ashton of the Sun reported after the 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur that "players are openly questioning him, wondering out loud how the club can seriously keep him beyond the end of the season."
An FA Cup triumph would be nice, certainly, but would it paper over cracks that deep?
This season, the goal was to improve on the last campaign, and winning a trophy would be a significant mark in the "pros" column.
However, marks in the the "cons" column include:
- A dismal league campaign that saw United throw away a chance at UEFA Champions League qualification.
- Taking just 11 of 18 possible points against the teams that were eventually relegated.
- Beating just one of the teams who finished between 12th and 18th away from home.
- Scoring fewer league goals (49) than any other Manchester United team since 1989/90.
- A European campaign so embarrassing there were two inglorious exits: one based on a failure to navigate an entirely manageable Champions League group, and the other at the hands of the club's biggest rivals, Liverpool.
The list could go on.
To justify keeping Van Gaal in place, United's board must surely have to be confident he could at the very least get them back into the Champions League next season. The club's hierarchy should have no reason to believe that based on this season.
And the opportunity was clearly there.
It was there both over the length of the season in terms of the relatively low points total required to make fourth and in a more immediate sense given the Red Devils had matters in their own hands with two games to go.
Van Gaal has to leave. He can be thanked for giving Marcus Rashford his debut, for signing Anthony Martial and, hopefully, for winning the FA Cup. But Saturday must be his last game in charge. It is time to move on.
