Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has been less-than quiet when it comes to criticising his former paymasters. The Dutchman was in charge at Old Trafford for two seasons, winning the FA Cup against Crystal Palace in his final game, but finishes of 4th and 5th in the Premier League alongside a poor performance in Europe in his second year saw him sacked, with Jose Mourinho taking over in 2016.
Van Gaal has been highly critical of the way United carried out his sacking in the time since, noting a feeling of betrayal, and these latest comments carried by The Metro seem to hint at an even bigger discontent with the players that he had under his tutelage:
“I asked many, many times for players of the highest quality. But I didn’t get the players I wanted,’ said Van Gaal. ‘I’m disappointed in certain human beings at United — and they know I’m disappointed. I am an emotional guy, I say too much in interviews. I am always authentic. You see what you see with me.”
It’s fair to say that few United fans were sorry to see the back of Van Gaal when the club eventually let him go; the style of football was plodding, slow and heavily based on possession without any real emphasis on attack, whilst United’s failure to quality for the Champions League after a terrible showing in that competition’s group stages and the subsequent rounds of the Europa League that followed left him with few allies in the stands. But, now with Manchester United back in the Champions League and also for next season the odds on them winning it are actually very good, if Mourinho gets the players he wants we could be a contender, you can bet online today to get the best odds and hopefully win some money.
This latest suggestion that he did not receive his preferred transfer targets feels somewhat hollow, though. The truth was Van Gaal was incapable of bringing the best out of a large number of his signings, from the talented likes of Memphis Depay and Angel Di Maria to the more workmanlike additions of Daley Blind and Morgan Schneiderlin. Few players excelled under Van Gaal, let alone his own transfers, so perhaps it’s best to take these latest comments with a pinch of salt, and allow the Dutchman to wildly continue to ignore reality.