Van Gaal takes issue with former club Manchester United: “It’s not a football club”

Dutch coaching legend Louis van Gaal has sharply criticized the leadership of his former club Manchester United after the worst Premier League season in history. He said the traditional English club is too driven by commercial success and is drifting further and further away from what it once was. "It's still a commercial club, not a football club. I've said that before – and that's always difficult," the 73-year-old said in a Sky Sports interview.

Van Gaal is particularly concerned about the transfer policy and the fact that the Red Devils aren't coaches in charge, but rather the owners. "If the coach doesn't decide which players should come in, it's very difficult. That's exactly how it should be, because then you can fire the coach if he doesn't deliver results. But if other people buy the players, then you have a problem," said van Gaal, who won the FA Cup with the Red Devils in 2016.

The former Dutch national coach had already criticized Manchester United's transfer activities during his tenure from 2014 to 2016. At the time, he wanted to rejuvenate the team and acquire certain players. "I didn't get a single one," van Gaal said on Voetbal International in 2020.

For Manchester, the past season was the worst in the club's history, with 18 defeats and 15th place. This, along with the Europa League final defeat, means Manchester will not be participating in European competition for the first time since the 2014/15 season.

To regain success, United should, of all teams, take a leaf out of their book, arch-rivals Liverpool. At Jürgen Klopp's former club, his successor, Arne Slot, who won the league title in his first season, has significantly more say in transfer decisions. "At Liverpool, he's the man who tells his technical director: 'You have to buy this player.' That's something to watch out for," said the former championship-winning coach of FC Bayern Munich.