Louis van Gaal walks gallantly into the media room with the FA Cup trophy in hand. As he places the oldest trophy in club football in front of him on the table, he gives the gathered media personnel an almost disdainful look before taking his seat.
Through most of his 24 months as manager of Manchester United, Van Gaal had been sacked by the media a number of times, especially after December 2015, when the team was kicked out of the Champions League in the first round and their Premier League campaign was derailed after suffering shock losses against Bournemouth, Norwich City and Stoke City.
For six months, even as United went on to fail to secure a Champions League berth for next season, Van Gaal had defiantly told the media that he would see out the remainder of his three-year contract at the Theatre of Dreams, which ends after the 2016-17 season.
It was no different on Saturday when, even after he had helped the club secure its first FA Cup title in 12 years, the post-match press conference was overshadowed by media reports that United would be unveiling former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as van Gaal’s replacement on Tuesday.
For all of van Gaal’s flaws, it did come across as disrespectful towards the 64-year-old. Despite all his shortcomings at United, the FA Cup win meant he had clinched the domestic title in four different countries in a career spanning 25 years. “Which manager can do that, what I have done?” he said to the journalists, when he was asked, yet again, about his future at the club.
“I show you the Cup and I don’t discuss [my future] with my friends from the media, who already sacked me for six months.”
The FA Cup win was the saving grace of another substandard season for England’s most successful football club, but you cannot take the achievement away from Van Gaal, which he made very clear at the Press Conference: “It was three years ago that United had a title. I’m very proud that I’m the first manager after the period of [former United manager] Alex Ferguson and I have made a picture with him because that’s history (sic).”
Will history repeat itself?
History also suggests that Alex Ferguson saved his job as United manager by winning the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace in 1990 after three mediocre seasons. In a glittering 26-year career at the Theatre of Dreams, he would go on to win 37 more trophies, including 13 Premier League and two Champions League titles, in the process becoming the longest-serving manager of the club.
Unfortunately for Van Gaal, the latest round of media reports regarding his sacking could well turn out to be true. After investing £250 million in players during the Dutchman’s two years, a solitary FA Cup trophy and no Champions League qualification are far from what the club management would have expected.
The fans had also made their displeasure clear with the lack of creativity on the pitch and what some pundits have branded a boring brand of football on display. Towards the end of the recently concluded season, Van Gaal was booed even after wins.
What could have been the tipping point for the club management is reports in the media that United’s player of the season for the last three years, David de Gea, would reconsider his future at the club if Van Gaal was still in charge come August. The Spaniard wasn’t the first United player who had grown disillusioned with the Dutchman’s now infamous “philosophy”. United’s record signing, Angel di Maria, had also said when he left the club after just one season that it was “difficult to adapt” to Van Gaal’s philosophy.
More of the same, or worse?
Now, as United reportedly prepare to welcome Mourinho, the question is: will anything change under the Portuguese? Mourinho has been criticised for his defensive brand of football and is also one of the most divisive and controversial managers in the game, just like Van Gaal. The two even worked together at Barcelona.
Mourinho, like Van Gaal, has won trophies at all the clubs he has managed, but controversy and a sense of self-destruction has always followed him after the initial success. Mourinho has got himself sacked at Chelsea twice after leading the club to silverware, and once at Real Madrid. His stints have not lasted more than three years at any club he has managed.
Van Gaal could at least be credited with having an eye for youth development. His two years at United have seen the rise of a bunch of potentially world-class youngsters, such as Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. If anything, he has laid a solid foundation for Mourinho to build on. Any success the Portuguese has at Old Trafford would have its roots in Van Gaal’s spell at the club.
Mourinho, on the other hand, is not known for nurturing youth. At Inter Milan and Real Madrid, he took over a star-studded side handed to him on a silver platter by previous managers and invested heavily in more renowned names. Manchester United are nowhere near a world-class side yet, but the foundation has been laid.
It’s been a difficult two years for United under Van Gaal, but the club definitely owes him something. Despite all the rumours and negativity from the media in his second year at Old Trafford, Van Gaal used his experience and just went on with his job. Yes, perhaps his philosophy did not match with the club’s, but he still managed to win a trophy.
United fans will be hoping that Mourinho is able to successfully take the team forward from where it is now and not steer it towards a self-destructive path. The 53-year-old has quite a task ahead of him: getting the team back in the Champions League and challenging for more trophies, apart from pushing forward the process of team-building.
What stands the 'Special One' in good stead is his desire to win trophies wherever he goes, but that does not take away from the fact that this, like the decision to hire Van Gaal, is a huge gamble.
