Louis van Gaal has reflected on his Manchester United dismissal by arguing that the club’s failure to reach the Champions League in 2016 was shaped by an uneven financial contest with Manchester City.
Why it landed this week
- Manchester United
- Manchester City
- Louis van Gaal
- Manuel Pellegrini
- Glazer family
Van Gaal, now 75, was removed by United after the 2015-16 campaign despite delivering the FA Cup. The Dutchman’s side finished level with City on 66 Premier League points, but City claimed the Champions League place on goal difference.
City, then managed by Pellegrini, had the superior goal difference at the end of the season. For Van Gaal, that margin had consequences far beyond the final table: he believes missing out on Europe’s leading competition was probably decisive in the Glazers’ decision to sack him.
A narrow gap with a long shadow
In an email, Van Gaal said the failure to secure Champions League football was “probably the decisive reason” behind his departure, bringing what he described as significant personal suffering.
He linked that outcome to Manchester City’s 114 alleged breaches and to the period from 2009 to 2018, during which City were found to have artificially increased revenue through sponsorship arrangements. Van Gaal’s Old Trafford spell fell within that timeframe.
The former United manager said he believed the situation could unquestionably have turned out differently had the competition been conducted on a fair footing. Yet he also accepted that the past cannot be altered, adding that not even the Football Association could turn back the clock.
Van Gaal leaves punishment to the court
Van Gaal took charge of United in 2014 and departed in 2016. He then spent a year away from management and did not return to the dugout until 2021.
Asked what punishment Manchester City should face, he declined to prescribe one, saying the decision belonged with the judge. For United, the arithmetic of that spring remains plain enough: 66 points, an FA Cup, and a Champions League place lost on goal difference.
