Manchester United will sit down with Louis van Gaal in the new year to determine whether the manager wishes to depart in the summer of 2017 or sign a fresh contract. The club will then draw up differing strategies dependent on how the Dutchman views his future, to cover any eventuality.
The Glazers are content with Van Gaal. The owners’ current stance is that should the much-coveted Pep Guardiola depart Bayern Munich and become available in the summer, United would make no play for the Spaniard because of their admiration for Van Gaal – though there is the caveat that fortunes can fluctuate quickly in football management.
Van Gaal has largely been consistent when discussing if fresh terms might be agreed with United when the contract he signed in the summer of 2014 expires in 18 months. The 64-year-old has said he will retire then to spend more time with his wife, Truus, at their villa in southern Portugal. However, Van Gaal has admitted that it is difficult for him to be definitive regarding his future at United. He has also indicated privately to club executives that he may be minded to stay on at the club.
The situation is fluid. The prime motivation for Van Gaal wishing to remain and for United wanting him to do so is success on the field. The manager is mindful that he is in a results business. If he were to suffer a serious on-field slump then any prospect of him moving into a fourth season at the club might become academic.
Other trophies
However, if Van Gaal were to lead United to a 21st title, win other trophies, or take the club to the semi-finals or further in the Champions League, then both sides would be keen to examine the possibility of him staying on.
The hierarchy is pleased with Van Gaal, pointing to how the Dutchman has done precisely what was demanded when he took over in 2014. The job specification then was to rebuild the squad and stabilise the club following the harrowing season under David Moyes – when they finished seventh, failing to qualify for Europe – to return United to the Champions League and to make the side serious title contenders once more.
In Van Gaal’s first season United finished fourth and then in August came through their Champions League play-off. This was achieved while making advances in the major surgery on the senior playing staff that was required. By the end of the last transfer window – Van Gaal’s third – those players he had allowed to leave included Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa, Rafael da Silva and Javier Hernández.
Those he has strengthened the squad with include Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Anthony Martial, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo, Memphis Depay, and Luke Shaw and Sergio Romero.
United’s stance regarding Guardiola also reflects the belief in the boardroom that their crosstown rivals, Manchester City, are in pole position to recruit the Spaniard.
Guardiola is out of contract in the summer. He could yet sign a new deal and if Guardiola were to lead Bayern to their sixth European Cup triumph, the 44-year-old might find it difficult to leave.
While Bayern have already qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League, United travel to Wolfsburg for Tuesday’s tomorrow’s final Group B game knowing only victory guarantees them passage to the last 16. Failure to advance would represent a significant disappointment, though the club put the cost of this eventuality at only £5 million (€7m).
Van Gaal will be without Wayne Rooney, his injured captain, but believes Schweinsteiger, who was bought from Bayern in July, can fill this void. “The reason why we have bought Schweinsteiger is that he is a player who can lead or guide a team,” the manager said. “That is important – not only his football qualities – but that he can lead and guide a team on the pitch.
“I believe that every match that he plays he can play better because until now we have not seen the best Schweinsteiger.”
Inflict more misery
Meanwhile, José Mourinho retains the support of the Chelsea hierarchy, despite another damaging loss – this time at the hands of struggling Bournemouth. The Premier League newcomers had not won a game for two-and-a-half months yet came to Stamford Bridge to inflict more misery on the reigning champions.
Roman Abramovich was in attendance, watching on as Chelsea succumbed to their eighth defeat in the league. The week ahead brings two difficult assignments and it is hard to imagine the owner’s continued support of Mourinho can be sustained much longer if they do not end positively.
On Wednesday night Chelsea must avoid defeat against Porto in the Champions League to ensure they do not give Dynamo Kiev the invitation to condemn them to Europa League football. The following Monday Mourinho takes his team to the home of an old friend of Chelsea but a personal enemy – Claudio Ranieri, at table-topping Leicester City.
Mourinho’s mood was understandably dark in the aftermath of another setback but there was also a hint of weariness in his demeanour as he went through the motions of giving an public assessment of this latest loss.
This was not the Mourinho of impassioned conspiracy theories, seven-minute long pronouncements or “nothing to say” repetitions. It seemed as if, having exhausted his options in terms of putting on a front or a spin on Chelsea’s predicament, he could do little more than offer a relatively understated explanation. The level of fight in the dog seemed low.
Key decisions
Naturally, he was disappointed by a couple of key decisions that did not go in Chelsea’s favour, calling them “unlucky details”. There was a penalty shout as Simon Francis’s arm made contact with the ball as the defender slid along the skiddy surface and a marginal offside decision about Glenn Murray’s winner for Bournemouth. Even so, Chelsea’s failings were highlighted by the fact that, though they managed a spell of pressure in the second half, the visiting manager, Eddie Howe, said he did not feel “in any grave danger of conceding”.
Asked for an opinion on where the Chelsea’s malaise stems from, Nemanja Matic strained for an answer. “What is the problem? I’m not sure. I’m just one of the players ... it’s going to be hard to come back from this, but we have to try to resolve this problem.” Guardian Service
