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#3 Transfer policy led by non-football men
"At Bayern, the people in charge are football men. I always appreciated that,” said former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. “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.”
He added: “It cannot be a good thing when a club is run solely from a commercially-driven perspective.”
Van Gaal has also spoken out about the transfer strategy. He told The Guardian: “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.”
“I didn’t always get the players that I want. That’s the problem. There is Woodward and his right hand is [club’s head of corporate development] Matt Judge. And there was the head of scouting. That was the structure but you are always dependent on Woodward and Judge.”
“I always thought 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.”
Judge has taken the role of negotiator for United transfers, in the absence of the technical director. Managers and scouting team may have their say on transfer targets, but it will ultimately be decided by Woodward and Judge to see if the targets fit in with the club’s plans. According to the Daily Mail, Judge has a Master’s degree in economics from Bristol University, where Woodward also studied, and 13 years of experience in investment banking.
With the state of the club now, perhaps it is best to appoint a technical director with a football background, at least to balance between commercial and football side of affairs.
A close ally of Jose Mourinho, Pedrag Mijatovic, also suggested the the Portuguese were missing a technical director or a sports director figure. He said: “In the last clubs where he has been he has found himself very alone. He has missed a sports director.
“People believe the sports director is a figure who only works three months in summer. It is not true. He is a fundamental figure between the training group and the club’s high levels, because there is often a need to bring the points of view of each other closer together. Someone has to mediate.”
