With reports emerging that Louis Van Gaal is preparing to walk
away from Manchester United, United fans across the globe can only hope the
reports are true.
Louis Van Gaal has sucked the life out of Old Trafford.
Gone are the days of Ryan Giggs flying down the wing setting up Eric
Cantona or Dwight Yorke to score a screamer at Old Trafford as they brush aside
yet another team at Old Trafford. We as United fans have to come to terms
with the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson is gone and possibly the old Manchester
United way is gone too. Teams used to fear coming to Old Trafford. Wayne
Rooney spoke of players tensing up in the tunnel as the United players emerged
from their dressing room and lined up beside them ready to do battle.
Rooney and his teammates had the match won right there. Nowadays
teams come to Old Trafford knowing they have a great chance of all three points
never mind a draw. This is the first thing that needs to change. Old
Trafford needs to be a fortress again.
Passion was always a word you would associate with Manchester
United. It started from the manager then to the pitch. Players like
Roy Keane, Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville... I could go on and on. They
all gave 100% for the cause. Young players coming into the club looked up
to them and were in some sense scared of them. Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't
long changing for the better once he realised that the likes of Roy Keane and
Gary Neville wouldn't stand for any nonsense and any negativity that was
brought to the club on his part. If Roy Keane was there when Memphis
Depay strolled into training in his flashy Rolls Royce convertible he
would be having a word.
There are no leaders at the club. There are no signs of
leadership coming from the dugout. When things are going wrong on the
pitch the players hide. Rooney as captain looks busy running into the ground
chasing the ball while not really effecting the game. It's all well and
good shouting in the dressing room at Anfield just because it's Liverpool but
as on many occasions over the last two seasons had it not been for David De Gea
United would have lost that game and many more.
The biggest problem I have with the Van Gaal regime is his
stubbornness in his refusal to put down the folder he constantly writes in
during a match and get up and earn his money on the touchline. I grew up
in an era when Alex Ferguson barked orders at the players from the touchline
and motivated his team. If the game is not going your way and you look
to the manager for guidance and he is jotting down constantly in his notebook,
how can that fill you with confidence that you can with that game? Gary
Neville often spoke of his fear of Fergie on the touchline if they were losing
as at right back he would be closest to him during the game, for one half at
least. If the manager is hiding in his seat, we can understand the
players hiding on the pitch.
It doesn't help that when we look down the road at
Liverpool they have the biggest motivator in football. Jurgen Klopp
kicks every ball and his celebrations at Norwich on Saturday were incredible.
I realise it was a last minute winner in injury time in a great game
but I cannot imagine Van Gaal doing likewise in similar circumstances.
He would simply make a note of it. While United fans might not wish
to applaud Klopp but if we are honest with ourselves most of us would love him
in charge of our club if only for his passion alone.
Van Gaal's latest comments that he has failed to live up to the
standards of Manchester United are perhaps an admittance of defeat. He
looks a broken man with little idea in how to get out of this mess. He
had intended to retire after the World Cup in 2014. The lure of Manchester
united proved too tempting and his belief that he could turn things around in
three months are laughable now. United are worse off now than under David
Moyes. With over £300 million spent since Sir Alex left, our best player
is still De Gea, a Fergie signing.
With Holland having a remarkable World Cup I wonder if Van Gaal
wishes he had retired to his Portugal paradise in the summer of 2014 with his
head held high. However fact remains he is on borrowed time. He cannot be
here next season. For his own sake and for the chance to retire with some
dignity he should walk away. He will not want to end an incredible
managerial career with the sack. United also cannot give the man another
£2oo million in the summer if he is in the final year of his contract. The
United board need to act now. Whether it's Giggs, Mourinho, Simeone or
whoever, United need to get passion and attacking football back at Old Trafford
and make Old Trafford a fortress once again. Only then can we move out of this
bleak period in our history.
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