Louis van Gaal has come under severe criticism of late, with people questioning both his tactics and his team management skills. The team was severely underperforming and lacked the flair of any sort. Last season was supposed to be spent for rebuilding, and the current one would finally gift the club a trophy — that was what most fans thought. However, that was not to be, as we soon found out. Although the 2015-16 started brightly, yet we lost momentum, thanks to a string of unfortunate injuries and poor form of the players. Manchester United did not win 8 successive games since November, and ended the year in the 6th spot on the League table and being knocked out from the Champions League group stage. Although the year 2016 has started much better, with wins over Swansea City, Sheffield United and Liverpool, yet the performances have hardly been assuring. However, here we enlist 3 reasons why Van Gaal should not be sacked immediately, even though he has 37 points from 22 games so far this season, which is exactly what David Moyes had accumulated during that 2013-14 campaign:
1. HIS PEDIGREE
The Dutchman has an elite pedigree, something David Moyes never did. His records at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Az Alkmaar will show that it usually takes some time for him to get it right. But when he does get it right, his teams are usually unstoppable. Barcelona and Alkmaar ended up dominating their league while van Gaal laid the foundations of the current Bayern team which is easily one of the best in the world at the moment. Moreover, van Gaal has a nac of handing promising young players their first team debuts, which is an important part of Manchester United’s footballing culture too. Already the likes of Andros Perreira, Paddy McNair, Borthwick-Jackson and Tyler Blackett have debuted under him, and one hopes that this tradition of developing academy graduates continues. A very young Ajax team won the Champions League under him in 1995, while a Netherlands team that was almost “past it”, as many experts pointed out after their group stage elimination in the Euro 2012, made it to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2014.
2. HE HAS BEEN UNFORTUNATE
Injuries have hit van Gaal hard, and you can’t deny that. Last season, he missed the likes of Robin van Persie and Phil Jones due to a series of injuries, and the same ill luck has cost him Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo this season, as well as several others. Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger both have missed crucial games due to niggling problems, and while it was initially suspected that the former Ajax coach’s training techniques may have at fault, it is no longer so now.
3. IT IS NOT THE CULTURE OF THE CLUB.
Manchester United is a club that is known for its managerial stability, and although that has not been the case for us in the recent past, yet the history is there for everyone to see. As of now, managers still need at least 3 years to organize and shuffle their team, easing out the deadwood and bring in fresh talent. Everyone knows how Sir Alex Ferguson took more than 4 years to win a trophy when he was hired in 1986, and one must give the man at least, some more time before drawing firm conclusions. We do not want to become a “sacking club” like Chelsea or Manchester City nor become a club stuck in the past like Liverpool, so we must find a proper middle way at any cost.
