Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has done a big interview with The Guardian‘s Jamie Jackson where he opens up about working with Ed Woodward and the Glazers.
His tenure at Old Trafford was a strange one, the Dutchman was entrusted with leading the club to recovery after the disaster that was David Moyes.
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Van Gaal led United to a top four finish in his first season in charge but couldn’t replicate that league form in the following campaign. At least he signed off with an FA Cup triumph though.
The football was a snore fest and his time won’t be remembered fondly by many United fans.
United bought poorly and the club was being run terribly (and still is!). Big signings like Angel Di Maria and Bastian Schweinsteiger flopped and there was a lot of deadwood in the squad.
It didn’t help Van Gaal that he felt the need to start Wayne Rooney on merit. Although he was club captain, it felt like Rooney became untouchable until José Mourinho replaced the Dutchman and gradually removed the club’s all-time record goalscorer from the starting line-up.
Below are some of the responses to questions Van Gaal gave to The Guardian.
You brought in players. You tried to refresh.
Yes, but I didn’t always get the players that I want. That’s the problem. There is Woodward and his right hand is [head of corporate development] Matt Judge. Judge I met once in a while but not too much. And there was the head of scouting. That was the structure but you are always dependent on Woodward and Judge.
Did they not take your advice?
I thought always Manchester United can buy every player because they have a lot of power. Seemingly a few players were not reachable for Manchester United. I cannot understand but it was like that.
You said you don’t understand why United have a lot of money and won’t always pay for players. Is that because the Glazers didn’t want to pay?
I don’t know. Woodward is the one who talks with the Glazers. I only talked with the Glazers when they were [attending] a game or training session. Mostly they attend top matches and fortunately we won a lot of these top matches, in any case against Liverpool.
