Louis van Gaal was sacked on the 23rd of May 2016, a day after winning United’s 12th FA Cup. The news came as a surprise but shocked nobody. Many felt that the Dutchman’s passive style of play was not suited to the fabric of Manchester United.
Fast forward 12 months and United are playing dull football whilst finishing 6th in the Premier League under an unlikeable manager.
As fortunes haven’t picked up like first expected, we are left to wonder what life would be under the reins of Louis van Gaal. It’s fair to say that the Dutchman and Jose Mourinho are polar opposites in the way they approach football.
Here are 5 things that would have happened if Louis Van Gaal was still at Manchester United.
#5 Memphis Depay wouldn’t have been sold
Halfway through last season, Jose Mourinho made the decision to sell resident troublemaker Memphis Depay to Olympique Lyon. Such an absurdity wouldn’t have happened under LVG as the Dutchman was keen on making his fellow countryman a star.
Yes, Van Gaal dropped Depay at times but that was part of the tough love process, Mourinho didn’t even select him for matchday squads. Now the Dutchman has contributed to 12 goals in 12 games in Ligue 1.
These numbers clearly prove the 23-year old has talent and it’s obvious that Van Gaal would have nurtured that productivity out of him at Manchester United.
#4 Gareth Bale would be here
Before he went to Real Madrid, Gareth Bale was pencilled in for a move to Old Trafford, instead, the Cardiff boy flew to Madrid for the world’s most expensive transfer. Fast forward a couple of seasons and the Welshman’s career is not soaring as most thought it would.
He’s played second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo and not quite been able to make BBC a feared trio like MSN. That’s why the rumours of a move to Old Trafford resurfaced throughout the 2015/16 season whilst Van Gaal was there.
It was widely reported that the Dutchman was looking for a right winger to become a double act with Anthony Martial, sadly the board had other ideas.
As Mourinho came in, the rumours of a homecoming for Pogba became stronger and the Portuguese boss spent unnecessarily on a position that didn’t need strengthening. Van Gaal was building something at United, so it’s a mystery as to why he wasn’t allowed to add the missing piece to it.
#3 Luke Shaw would be flying
It’s hard to predict the impact of injuries in any capacity, but it’s not hard to predict the temperament of managers in relation to them. Ever since his career-threatening injury in the 2015/16 campaign, Luke Shaw’s career has been at a standstill.
Matters haven’t been helped by Jose Mourinho’s insensitive man-management tactics. Instead of being handled with care & love, Jose has treated Shaw harshly, the opposite to the way LVG would have handled him.
Let’s put it this way, LVG wouldn’t have blamed Luke Shaw after one mistake for a 3-1 defeat at Watford. He doesn’t throw players under the bus, he shields and nurtures them. Since LVG’s departure, Shaw has subsequently only played 692 minutes of Premier League football.
#2 Manchester United would be in the top 4
This season Manchester United have won what we call the Mickey Mouse treble; the Europa League, EFL Cup & Community Shield, three trophies that the majority of big clubs could not care less about. They were able to achieve this monumental feat through spending £150 million in the summer.
Yes, it’s no secret that LVG spent a lot in his first two seasons, but at least progress was there to see. This season instead of breaking into the top four, the Red Devils are languishing in sixth, worse than the season before, despite spending more money. Huh?
When Van Gaal was sacked he had just won the FA Cup and finished in 5th, of course, that’s not enough for a club like Manchester United, but it was progress on the season before, unlike Mourinho’s first campaign. The players were finally becoming accustomed to LVG’s philosophy and the next season would have seen them operate at full capacity, alas, life would say no.
#1 Marcus Rashford would be a top quality striker
At the end of the 2015/16 season, everybody in England was going mad about Marcus Rashford. The teenage sensation had taken the Premier League by storm and become a rising star at Old Trafford. Under Van Gaal, he scored 5 goals in just 11 appearances, including a memorable brace against Arsenal.
Fast forward a season and the promising youngster has scored 5 goals again but this time in 32 appearances, THIRTY-TWO. If that’s not a drop off in development I don’t know what it is.
It’s fair to say under the tutelage of Van Gaal, the Englishman would have taken the club to new heights. The 19-year old is mobile, fast, intelligent and clinical, but for some reason, Jose couldn’t see that and instead positioned him on the wing.
Whilst Zlatan Ibrahimovic was, for some reason, given a £300,000-a-week contract to stunt the growth of Marcus Rashford.
Also Read: 5 reasons why David de Gea will not leave Manchester United this summer
