Man Utd boss needs to go regardless of Derby result
Published:
Louis van Gaal has said that a defeat against Derby County in the FA Cup could see him sacked “again”.
The Manchester United boss was taking a swipe at the media for continually printing stories of his demise and they will continue to do so if the Red Devils are dumped out in the fourth round.
Speaking about the future reports about his sacking should his side lose to Derby, the 64-year-old said: “Maybe then you have written the truth.”
However, a win over the Rams won’t be enough to stop the criticism of Van Gaal and it’s time for Ed Woodward to show the Dutch boss the door.
United are currently fifth in the league, ten points off table-topping Leicester City and five off fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Finishing in the top four was an acceptable aim last season given how far Man Utd had fallen under David Moyes, but a lot more was expected for this campaign and they may not even meet the standards set in 2014/15.
Indeed, fans of the 13-time Premier League winners have seen their team limp to defeats in six of their 23 top-flight matches, along with a Champions League exit at the group stage and being knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Middlesbrough.
Furthermore, the Dutch manager oversaw transfers that totalled over £200m in his two years in charge and United fans are yet to see a reward for this expenditure.
Clearly, despite his experience and pedigree, Van Gaal isn’t the right man to bring success to Old Trafford and keeping him in the hot seat is just prolonging the inevitable.
Defenders of the 64-year-old will argue that a new manager wouldn’t have time to sign anyone and drastically change the club’s fortunes meaning the Red Devils may as well refrain from dumping their manager to avoid being seen as a sacking club.
However, with several quality managers available now, the United board would be wise to act quickly to avoid letting a top boss slip through their fingers.
Jose Mourinho is the obvious option, but the Copa-America winning Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli is also unemployed.
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