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Home > Blog Post > “Zero Understanding of Football ” | Former Manchester United Manager Absolutely Lambasts United Chief And Fans Couldn’t Agree More

“Zero Understanding of Football ” | Former Manchester United Manager Absolutely Lambasts United Chief And Fans Couldn’t Agree More

Van Gaal, Arsedevils, Manchester United

Louis Van Gaal, the former manager of the Red Devils, has publicly condemned the owners of Manchester United, the Glazer family and their decision about the appointment of Ed Woodward as executive vice-chairman. Van Gaal went on to say that Woodward has “zero understanding of football.” Van Gaal told ‘Goal!’ that “the club is run solely from a commercially-driven perspective.”

Manchester United have slowly but surely fallen from a state of superiority since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement as manager. Amongst those tasked with reinstating the club to its former glory included Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho. Van Gaal opened up about the problems regarding United’s transfer strategy.

The problem begins with, of course, that Manchester United was never refreshed. I think when you are a manager you have to refresh every year to keep the team-building process going,”

Van Gaal has been quoted telling ‘The Guardian’.

“I didn’t always get the players that I want. That’s the problem. There is Woodward and his right hand is Matt Judge.”

(Matt Judge is the head of corporate development at United.) According to Van Gaal, the structure was such that it always depended on Woodward and Judge.

“I thought always Manchester United can buy every player because they have a lot of power.

Seemingly a few players were not reachable for Manchester United. I cannot understand but it was like that.” The former manager also hinted that United were not willing to pay for many players.

When specifically questioned on if the problem was that the Glazers were unwilling to pay the fee, Van Gaal replied, “I don’t know.”

Mourinho was a victim of similar problems – some of the players on his target list were deemed not to be worth the transfer fee set for them. Interestingly, both Van Gaal and Mourinho had similar tenures at the club, facing similar problems and were both ushered away from their role as manager under similar circumstances. However, this window, United seem to be interested in making many signings as they seem to be active on the market, looking for fresh players.

The one player under Van Gaal whom United paid a huge transfer fee for was Angel Di Maria, despite him not being a primary target for the former manager. Van Gaal said that he was “satisfied as Di Maria was a creative player”, but that he had other players on his list. He believed Di Maria had a problem with the culture of English football and its climate.

“You cannot buy players and know for sure that they can deliver. You cannot know because football is a team sport.”

According to ‘Manchester Evening News’, Former United player Luis Nani has told Solskjaer that the only solution would be to sign “world-class” players as the team was “not strong, but still young.”

If United’s transfer strategy is still flawed as Van Gaal claims it to be, Solskjaer might find himself in a tight spot. United are in dire need of a restructure, especially in their defence. Further, Lukaku’s possible departure will leave him searching for a quality player who is capable of scoring consistently.

Van Gaal claims to not be prejudiced against the club as he “holds nothing against them, as the club wanted Mourinho and he was on the market.” He also told ’11Freunde’ that

“At Bayern, the people in charge are football men. I always appreciated that. At Manchester United, on the other hand, Ed Woodward was installed as CEO – somebody with zero understanding of football who was previously an investment banker.”

A football club might be a business, but the sport must be kept as far away as possible from the intent of making money. Whenever a club is bent only upon earning profits from ticket sales, selling merchandise, etc. they begin cutting corners with things like the quality of players bought during transfer windows. This can not only harm the sporting environment but also the club and its reputation itself. United’s depreciating form speaks to that.

Countless fans at Old Trafford wish that Solskjaer is given a free rein this transfer window, as the United team from this season must be high polished to be in top form for the 19/20 season.

Could the 19/20 season finally see major improvement in United’s team? This transfer window will be crucial, as the Red Devils will be looking to finish in the top 4 and compete in the UEFA Champions League in the 20/21 season. Fans all over the world are looking forward to knowing more as the transfer window continues.

Diya
Just your everyday kid on the block who hopes she'll be managing a Premier League team one day :)

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