Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has urged fans to be patient with current manager Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman has struggled for consistency during his two years at Old Trafford and has been at the centre of constant speculation regarding his future.
With United sitting in sixth place and knocked out of the Champions League, Europa League and Capital One Cup, fans have grown increasingly critical of Van Gaal and have often voiced their discontent at his style of play and squad selection. But Ferguson, who is still regularly seen in the stands at Old Trafford, told Sky Sports that he believes success will return to the club and that it’s “dead easy to be critical” of Van Gaal.
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“You have to be realistic about some things, the number of injuries he has had, Phil Jones has played only seven games this season, Ashley Young, Valencia, Shaw, these are big losses,” he said. “It doesn’t matter which team you are, if you have players missing of that calibre it has to have an impact on the team.”
Ferguson, who is arguably the greatest football manager of all time, initially went four years without silverware before he won 38 trophies over the next 22 years. While the same patience is rarely shown to football managers these days, Ferguson said the wait for silverware would be worth it.
“You have to have some patience being a Manchester United fan and they have shown that over the years, in Matt Busby’s time, in my time,” he said.
“For 150 years of history, it is worth having a couple of years on the quiet side of success because they will always come back and come back strong”.
Rashford is a sensation, says Sir Alex
While Manchester United fans have often had little to be positive about over the past two seasons, one of the highlights has been the large number of youngsters to be handed their debut by the Dutchman. Ferguson said that while a large number of injuries and the addition of several new signings had taken its toll on United’s season, the emergence of young players such as 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, who has scored five goals in eight appearances, had been significant.
“The other aspect which is always easy to forget, there are five new players in their first season at United and two are young players in (Anthony) Martial and Memphis (Depay), and their promise is good,” he said.
“He’s given nine young players their debut, I think the future is good. Rashford is an example of what I think is Manchester United. They are the one club in England who will always identify a Rashford and give a young kid a chance, there is no better club in England at giving young kids a chance. Rashford is a sensation and one of the best in years”.
As United look to slot into fourth place and secure the final Champions League spot, fans will hope Ferguson is right about Van Gaal, who is also busy preparing his team to face West Ham in their FA Cup quarter-final replay on April 13.
