It's been a really long and eventful week for Manchester United fans as well as players and officials. There was the shared record of the 12th FA Cup, Louis van Gaal’s sacking (which in my opinion was handled very poorly) and then the inevitable appointment of Jose Mourinho at the helm. Ardent fans of Manchester United seem very happy to be relieved of Van Gaal and his “Philosophy”.
It's very easy to sympathise with the Dutchman after he was sacked just after getting his hands on the coveted trophy that has actually kept Arsene Wenger’s job safe. But for someone statistical and methodical like Van Gaal, he hasn’t left United in any better state than David Moyes did. Moyes’ and Van Gaal’s reigns are similar, but what sets them apart is the Dutchman's resume of managing big clubs in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
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To say his two years were disappointing would be an understatement. Only one of the few set targets was fulfilled – entry into the Champions League (and a spectacular exit from it as well). The other objectives, such as challenging for the English Premier League title, establishing continental dominance and leaving behind a team which Ryan Giggs would then inherit, have literally gone down the drain this year.
An astounding stat proves that Van Gaal's reign was actually more unsuccessful than Moyes. The stat in question is the win percentage; while the Dutchman had a 52.43 win %, Moyes had a slightly better 52.94%
In professional football, the bad often overshadows the good. Louis van Gaal did some things that were praiseworthy, such as promoting academy talents and stifling big teams, but here we look at some of the lowest troughs of his Manchester United stint.
Defeat against Swansea in his first game in charge
The proverb 'first impressions are the most lasting' is apt for Van Gaal's United career as a whole. He lost his first official game in charge, a 1–2 home defeat to Swansea City in the opening match of the 2014–15 Premier League season. Not just that, but Swansea went on to defeat Manchester United three times on the trot.
The defeat set the tone for the next few matches. After 10 league games, United were in ninth place with 13 points and two victories, their worst start to the season since 1986–87 under Ron Atkinson.
They were also suffering from injuries, including those to new signings Ander Herrera, Marcus Rojo and Radamel Falcao. Van Gaal reacted to the poor form by saying that it would take three years to take his United team to their full potential. Too bad he did not stay for another year.
The 4-0 loss at the hands of MK Dons
Giant killings in the English domestic cups are a pretty normal occurrence, and boy did Louis get acquainted with that fact in spectacular fashion! On 26 August 2014, a day before signing Angel di Maria for a British record transfer, United lost 4–0 to League One side Milton Keynes Dons in the second round of the League Cup.
It was an extremely youthful side fielded by Van Gaal, and he definitely did not foresee the traumatising exit. A decade-old club from two tiers below punched way above their weight and knocked United's senses out. The toothless display of attack, as well as defense, was criticized widely by most.
Group stage exit from the 2015-16 Champions League
United slalomed past Club Brugge in the qualifiers and when the seeding was done to determine the teams in each group, Group B consisted of Wolfsburg, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow and United themselves. So no Real Madrid, no Barcelona, no Bayern Munich, no PSG – it was perhaps one of the easiest groups. It should have been a cakewalk for them. Oh how they proved us wrong!
Some would say the away defeats cost them, but it was actually the draws against PSV at Old Trafford and CSKA at Khimki which hurt them the most. A 2-3 defeat to Wolfsburg ended their dismal Champions League campaign and thus subsequently demoted them to the Europa League.
The December of 2015
There is a reason for me naming the whole of December here. A winless run of six games including three losses against lower league opposition as well as the loss against Wolfsburg resulting in a group-stage elimination from the Champions League saw Van Gaal hinting at quitting.
A horrid run of consecutive defeats against Bournemouth (1-2), Norwich City (1-2) and Stoke City (0-2) all but displaced Van Gaal, with the recently sacked Mourinho getting linked almost immediately. The draws against West Ham and Chelsea did bring respite for him on a temporary level, as scarves with Mourinho’s face outside Old Trafford started to roll back the thoughts of having the Portuguese take over.
Defeat at the hands of FC Midtjylland
Yes, the ‘dt’ is silent and the pronunciation is pretty hard. When United dropped to the Europa League, they were drawn against a team which most of the football world hadn’t heard of. So what did our two-time Champions League winners do? They lost 1-2 to a side that is even younger than the youngest United player – Timothi Fosu-Mensah.
Needless to say, United had touched the Mariana Trench of their footballing history. The scoreline would have been even more embarrassing if not for Sergio Romero. Yes, United did manage to overturn that and progress, but it is one result that Van Gaal will remember for the rest of his life.
