Man Utd must keep hold of Van Gaal regardless of league finish
Published:
Louis van Gaal will pick up the papers today and once again see a picture of himself looking up from the back pages.
Several tabloids are reporting that the Dutch manager will be shown the door by Manchester United if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.
The Red Devils are six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and are currently priced at 7/4 to finish in a position that would see Van Gaal remain at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho is waiting in the wings for the 64-year-old manager to fail and many believe his move to United is a done deal.
However, despite the calls from fans and pundits alike, those in charge of the 13-time Premier League winners need to keep the faith with their current manager regardless of league finish.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss signed a three-year contract when he moved to the red side of Manchester and he should be given the chance to see this out.
Judging Van Gaal after this time span would be the fairest reflection of the job he has done at Old Trafford, especially as he has brought through a number of young players.
The likes of Nick Powell, Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair and Andreas Pereira have all been given the chance to prove their worth, but it is two names in particular that most stand out.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Jesse Lingard have both had substantial spells in the first-team, with only injuries keeping the latter from being a regular.
The pairing showed their worth in their last game against Chelsea, with Borthwick-Jackson putting in the dangerous cross that led to the 23-year-old Lingard volleying in expertly.
Both are beginning to look like the real deal at Old Trafford and this is due to Van Gaal putting faith in the youngsters and giving them game time.
Clearly, the United boss isn’t afraid to let academy players move into the first team and this is in keeping with the ethos of a club who were told they would never win anything with kids.
Conversely, Mourinho’s record of promoting players is poor and his approach would involve bringing in costly mercenaries for short-term success, a way of operating that is alien to the Red Devils.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
