In the end, we shouldn’t have been surprised by Manchester United’s victory against West Ham in an unusually important FA Cup quarterfinal replay at Upton Park on Wednesday.
There have been many instances this season where Louis Van Gaal has seemingly teetered on the brink only to take a half-step back from the cliff by edging out an important result. His knack for these important results has ensured that United are never at full-blown crisis mode where sacking Van Gaal is the only tenable action.
Big result last night. Well done lads. Delighted to go through to the semi-finals #facup #mufc
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) April 14, 2016
Think of the narrow derby win over Manchester City a couple of weeks ago or powering past Arsenal in February. Van Gaal’s United, it seems, are at their most dangerous when the guillotine is poised above the Dutchman’s neck.
That he should still be relieved of his duties should not be in question. His reign has been one of baffling selection, lobsided transfers and a drastic retreat into conservativism. United have become painful to watch and painless to play against. The jibe going around Twitter last Sunday as a rampant Tottenham ripped into United was: "lads, it’s Manchester United" – a jab back at Alex Ferguson’s withering put down of old Spurs.
Pochettino's HT Talk to #THFC: "Lads, it's Manchester United" #COYS pic.twitter.com/0OMe4ETM3u
— Nicholas A. Kosar (@nakosar) April 10, 2016
'Lads, it's Manchester United'
— Mark Patterson (@MarkPattersonBR) April 10, 2016
Limping into 4th place and an FA Cup should merely let Van Gaal retire with his head held high. It should not be held as evidence that this particular three-year project should serve its full term.
The real story of United’s summer will be the choice of the next manager and nothing best sums up the schizophrenic direction of the club like the seemingly only two candidates for the job. United can choose between Ryan Giggs and Jose Mourinho. They can choose between the succession plan they had in mind when they gave the job to Van Gaal or they can go to the best hired gun in football. That two such diametrically different ideas for a manager exist as the only two options sums up the muddled thinking that has infected the club post-Ferguson.
Speak to those that hear the whispers in the corridors of power at Old Trafford and they speak of power bases and political maneuvering. Old Trafford more closely resembles Whitehall than a mere football club.
What is interesting is the reaction of a vast majority of the candidacy of Giggs. Surely a man who as a player embodied the very ideals United fans would have you believe they cherish, a man who encapsulates their commitment to youth and a man who has served his time under first Ferguson and then two other managers should enjoy a wealth of backing from supporters?
Yet in three separate polls by the three United fanzines in February, Giggs was trounced by Mourinho in the question over who should next be manager. In a similar poll in the Manchester Evening News (above), he garnered 18% of the vote. Nothing that has happened since would lead you to believe those numbers would creep up. Giggs is the Marco Rubio of this particular race.
The arguments against Giggs are plentiful and valid. If, for example, he is playing an active role in Van Gaal’s coaching set up, he surely must be held accountable for an atrocious season. On the flipside, if he is a mere window prop for Van Gaal – a token gesture to mollify the traditionalists at the club - then he hasn’t served his time as a coaching apprentice. Those against would rather he took a job elsewhere as if guiding Swansea to safety would prepare you for one of the biggest jobs in football.
If the rumour was true, then Ryan Giggs should've gone to Swansea earlier in the year for the experience. Instead of being LVG's yes man.
— Jon Glanville (@jonglanville) March 30, 2016
But isn’t there something worth admiring in this supposed succession plan? Wouldn’t a fan of any club enjoy the prospect of a legend being groomed to take over? It may be the type of romantic folly that modern football has all but killed off but surely, to a fan, winning something built upon some kind of intangible ideal is far worth more than merely winning?
Mourinho would probably guarantee a bauble or two. He would probably bring back the loathing that United used to inspire among opposition fans but he would also probably bring disruption, arguments and a slew of Jorge Mendes clients.
There are tentative signs that a young side is emerging from the rubble of two seasons of Louis Van Gaal. Anthony Martial, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford are a collection of young players that perhaps a very good team can be built around. It seems United fans want patience with this young team and yet they want Mourinho, the man always in a hurry, to oversee it.
Take a bow, Marcus Rashford! #mufc https://t.co/5STyFkLRBB
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 14, 2016
But perhaps the best thing for all of these young players is a young manager who’s walked the same path. Giggs invites little comparison with Pep Guardiola but one he does have: he’s the very embodiment of an ideal and great clubs follow ideals.
Barcelona did from a position of relative power, United should even from a position of weakness. It’s a chance, it’s a risk, but then isn’t that what United tell us they’re all about?
