Dear Ed,
We can’t say that we are overly impressed with the status quo.
We accept that you clearly want to give Louis van Gaal every opportunity to succeed at Manchester United and don’t want to get into the habit of hiring and firing every year or two.
Furthermore, Louis van Gaal has very much been viewed as your choice after the David Moyes debacle.
But we strongly believe that, by continuing with Van Gaal, you aren’t doing yourself any favours, you aren’t doing him any favours and, most importantly, you aren’t doing Manchester United any favours.
In fact watching Louis, an increasingly beaten man, insulting a reporter on Tuesday night was degrading for him and the club. That should have been the final straw.
We feel that keeping him on at this stage is actually pretty cruel – you are hanging this proud man out to dry in a job that he simply isn’t suited to at this stage of his career.
We want you to think about Leeds United and Liverpool FC. Do you think that they saw the end of their empires coming?
You may think that Manchester United are far too big a club to suffer a similar fate. But, don’t fooled by the false sense of security afforded by the walls of Old Trafford. Any neutral observer can see that Manchester United is a sinking ship right now.
It seems as if the bar has fallen so far that Champions League elimination at the group stage and 6th position in the league are almost deemed acceptable right now. How can that be?
Louis in less stressed times
If Manchester United is to remain an elite club, it must act like an elite club. Would Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus, Chelsea or City keep a manager on for this length of time after such results?
If your natural response to that question is that this is what makes Manchester United special you are either living in the past or in a dream world.
LvG simply hasn’t delivered. He has spent a quarter of a billion pounds, or thereabouts. And we aren’t interested in this idea that he has only spent £130m net.
Because it was his choice to sign Angel di Maria and his decision bench him for 3 months, which turned the winger against the club. That signing was supposed to be a huge fillip. Instead it turned out to be a massive waste of funds and further suspended the progress of the club.
We still think that, overall, the signings have been decent under Louis. But the sales of RvP and Chicharito have surely weakened a side that has scored just 27 goals in 21 league games this season.
You gave LvG your full backing. He has had 18 months to demonstrate some improvement on the pitch. But United have gone backwards.
At this point you must forget yourself. Forget how you might be deemed a failure for bringing the Dutchman in.
These are absolutely pivotal times in the history of Manchester United. A couple more years like this and the sponsorships will dry up while top players and managers simply won’t want to join the club.
Manchester United are absolutely desperate for a strong leader and the club would be incredibly lucky if Jose Mourinho agreed to take the job.
His appointment should be the easiest decision of your entire career. Unlike Pep, he’s a proven Premier League points machine and we haven’t seen hunger and desire like his since The Great Man himself, Sir Fergie, was treading the boards of The Theatre of Dreams.
Any concerns about his behaviour should be dwarfed by the problems on the pitch right now and how the next few years might look without him. The Portuguese is the closest thing to a guarantee of results that will keep Manchester United in The Champions League and in title contention until Ryan Giggs really is ready to take the reins. At this point, Giggs’ succession is simply too much of a gamble – a gamble that United can ill-afford.
5/12/1999 FC Barcelona Football Training.
Manager Louis van Gaal talks with coach Jose Mourinho.
Photo: Offside / MarcaMedia.
Don’t kid yourself. 1 win in 8 in the league – a scrambled victory at home by the odd goal against a struggling Swansea side – is relegation form. It doesn’t form any part of Louis’ ‘process’. It represents failure. Plan and simple.
LvG is a great man and has been a great manager. But, like players, coaches have a shelf-life too.
It’s time to make a change Ed. And how your own career fortunes will improve if you bring The Special One in. In 6 months time Old Trafford will be rocking again and the insulting caricatures of you on Twitter will be a thing of the past.
If Jose had been signed in 2013 Manchester United may not be in this current mess. But Perhaps The Special One needed his latest, humiliating brush with Chelsea to make a few tweaks to his overall approach.
Manchester United need redemption. And Jose is seeking his own kind of redemption. This is a match made in heaven.
IAN HENDRY ORR
Jan 17, 2016 at 7:47 am
This article is what 90% of united fans really believe. Mr Woodward along with your board make a decision or you could be out before LVG.
NaseerIsah (Rio) SOKOTO NIGERIA
Jan 17, 2016 at 9:50 am
Always Man united are desever 2 lose for Lius Vangal Bcoz he is lose Oportunity Already Why sell the key Players Like R.V.P, Chicharito Hernendez, Dimaria, Rafel, Flectcher. But still no buy any Profesional Players like us, Then Vangal always every Games are typing Erros No I dear to Good Starting Line up or Subtitutions, So the only way #SACKED HIM and Ed Ward Wood, 2 of them ar cousing man united Losers Comfedence in a Every game.
Name:kwame
Jan 17, 2016 at 11:24 am
If lvg is nt sack,united wil miss e top 4 flight.so i agree wit u.
Emmanuel Kwaji (EUPHORIA )
Jan 17, 2016 at 2:55 pm
LVG is simply not good enough for oldtrafford .. I agree to the fact that man united play and control the most of the games in the mid-field but thats not good enough.. we watch football because we want to see the red devils win games and not to win ball possessions and lose the game.. if controling the ball possession cant be converted in to goals then what is the essence of it??? manchester united need to improve in their attacks …. Ashley Young needs to play as a left wing forward and not as a left back.. Memphis should be loaned out , then bring yarmolenko from Kyiv to play as a right winger… bring in Antoine griezman from atletico to play in d attack and keep Ashley young, lingard, janujaz , periera wilson and Kean as attack substitutes… sell felaini bring in Toni kroos or Luka modric or Ivan rakitic.. Valencia is an injury prone player and he is already getting old as such, he should be replaced by a better right back like Nathaniel clyne , or any better right back the club can find… Rooney is no longer possessing the pace he had four years ago as such Neymar or lewandowski should be brought in and let the captain be played as a regular substitute.. sell romero and bring in ter stagen as a second choice goal keeper…. this is what the line would like if that is done
——–De Gea———
Clyne– smalling—- Jones/Roho–Shaw/blind
—Rakitic / kroos –schneiderlin/schweinsteiger
Antoine griezman– harera–yarmolenko
—lewandowski/Rooney /neymar/ Matial–
substitutes; Rooney, young,mata ,lingard, jones,Carrick, darmian, blind, periera,Kean,januzaj,wilson…
i believe this squad will be enoigh to rejuvenate united’s attacking flair and pace…
Emmanuel Kwaji (EUPHORIA )
Jan 17, 2016 at 3:06 pm
LVG needs to be sacked and replaced with either mourinho, Laurent blanc, conte , pep guardiola…
SULE ABDUL
Jan 18, 2016 at 11:32 pm
ABDUL SULE.
Sincerely speaking my mind has been spoken and I ‘ve beat of relief through this article. Ed has the final say he knows what’s good for him, as a Manchester united’s fan finger’s are across to see how Ed and Gaal will finished their frustration. In addition they should not allow frustration to ruin us further.
Hermit
Jan 20, 2016 at 10:05 am
from day one the media and probably 15% of all MUFC have made life miserable for LVG. whatever he does, he cant do no good. As Wenger said a few weeks ago, the treatment LVG receives is ‘DISRESPECTFUL”. If most of you fans would treated like this by your employer you probably would be feeling depressed. When LVG took the job he mentioned that it would take him 3 years to take MUFC to the top of the EPL. He is halfway, 5th on the EPL ladder. He is being attacked by the media,(mainly old players who are getting paid to be controversial) and it is always about LVG, never about Koeman or Ranieri, untit he quits. The Glazer family is very happy with him, if you are a true supporter, you support your club in good and bad times!!!!!