WHY SAY ANYTHING?

 

So, Louis van Gaal would feel betrayed if Manchester United were speaking to Jose Mourinho about the manager’s position at United, would he? He has just led United to a defeat at Sunderland which leaves them six points away from the top four who all now have a game in hand. The chances of finishing in the top four are now very remote so, therefore, his spending of £258 million on new players was both wasteful and unwise.

As a United supporter of more than fifty years I would feel completely betrayed if United WEREN’T talking to Jose Mourinho, I couldn’t care less what van Gaal thinks! He is not the man for Manchester United and the only people who don’t understand this are van Gaal himself and Ed Woodward.

Just to be straight, I have absolutely no time for Ed Woodward who, since amazingly being placed in charge of football matters, has overseen one disaster after another.

Starting with the appointment of David Moyes, a man with no big club experience and no trophy winning experience, through the purchase of Marouane Fellaini for £4 million more than was necessary due to a missed release clause, it continued with the joke that was the Angel Di Maria transfer, the sacking of Moyes AFTER it became mathematically impossible to finish fourth or better, giving the next manager no chance of a relatively successful start.

Then, of course, the appointment of Louis Van Gaal and the authorising of the ridiculous amount of money which, having been frittered away on a few players, still didn’t see the arrival of a striker or a centre back, the two positions which had been crying out for strengthening.

So, if van Gaal goes, which he must, then so should Woodward. The marketing department is currently United’s most successful department and it was from here that Woodward emerged to prove that he is an incapable contracts and transfers negotiator. He should be allowed to return to what he actually does best and must never again be let loose with the Old Trafford wallet.

Now that King Louis has accepted that United’s best route into next season’s Champion’s League is by winning the Europa League, (which they are not good enough to achieve, by the way), he should be asked to resign, fired or mutually terminated. As a supporter, I don’t care how he goes, I just want him gone.

If Jose Mourinho would take the job now, which I feel sure that he would, then United’s odds of finishing in the top four would shorten dramatically. This would have a very positive effect on the squad so why on earth would they wait until it is impossible for a new manager to taste a modicum of success and get off to a very positive start? The thinking behind this baffles me completely!

During the Sunderland game one of the co-commentators, Trevor Francis, stated that the United team didn’t contain many of what he called “United players”. He was right. He said that this is the worst United team he has seen in years. He was right again.

Manchester United is in danger of falling behind not only the traditional top three teams in Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, but also the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Everton.

In fairness, van Gaal should have been fired weeks ago and Mourinho should already be in charge. If it doesn’t happen very soon then United will have lost out on an opportunity to steal a march on City.

Pep Guardiola will not arrive at the Etihad until the season is over so United could allow Mourinho a nice head-start of about three months to prepare to finish above him next season because, the chances are, that if you finish above Guardiola, you win the title.

For this conjecture to become fact, unfortunately, relies on decisive action from United. As long as Ed Woodward, a ponderous, dithering and indecisive buffoon, is in charge at Old Trafford, nothing will happen very quickly. So be prepared for more frustrations between now and the end of this interminable season.