Van Gaal is Out but it’s not quite MourINho just yet

The worst kept secret in Football is out as earlier Today Manchester United sacked Dutchman Louis Van Gaal. The question has been asked for most of the season as to whether or not Van Gaal could stay in the Old Trafford hotseat and now it has finally been answered

Since the sacking of Jose Mourinho by Chelsea in December his figure has loomed large over Van Gaal with many believing that from that point onwards Van Gaal was a deadman walking in terms of being United Manager and it was just a case of when and not if Mourinho was the heir apparent to the Old Trafford hotseat

If Van Gaal had any chance of saving his job then he would have needed to have secured a place in next season’s Champions League, after finishing 5th and missing out to cross town rivals Manchester City the writing was always going to be on the wall. Then again would 4th place even had been enough what with the constant threat of Mourinho waiting in the wings

Van Gaal bowed out after a record equaling F.A cup win on Saturday but that was never going to be enough to appease both board members and fans of the club. It seemed as if their mind was already made up even before the outcome of the cup game. Van Gaal was almost damned if he did and damned if he didn’t

The timing of the breaking news on Saturday Evening was perhaps ill conceived but at the same time wouldn’t have been a coincidence either. The question now is when will Jose Mourinho move into the Old Trafford hotseat. We are probably looking at days if not hours before the former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan and Real Madrid Manager adds Manchester United to an already glittering C.V.

Did United make the right decision then on the balance of the facts then yes they did but ultimately once Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea and Pep Guardiola was appointed Manchester City Manager then Van Gaal was a dead man walking. United couldn’t afford to miss out on another world class Manager and the only thing they then had to worry about was how to implement as smoother change of managerial personnel as possible

Even if Van Gaal had stayed on this season and seen out the duration of his contract then his position would have been untenable. After being trusted with £250m already the Untied board would have been reluctant to hand out further transfer funds knowing that a new man in charge would then want to bring their own players in and dismantle what Van Gaal has created

You have to spare a thought for Juan Mata who will no doubt be shown the exit door by Mourinho for a second time and for Marcus Rashford this is an appointment at the worst possible time for the young forward. He is now going to have a massive battle to stay in the first eleven and not slip down the pecking order and halt his already burgeoning career

The managerial landscape in Manchester is about to change beyond all recognition. We are now set for Pep Guardiola vs Jose Mourinho taking place at either The Etihad or Old Trafford. If someone had said 12 months ago that this would be the case then you would dismiss them as an idiot

But then again Football makes us all look like idiots sometimes