Depending on who you believe, Louis van Gaal has been given a couple of games, days or hours to save his job at Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho is thought to have entered talks to potentially replace the Dutchman, and could potentially become the third new man to take over permanently at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
United are in a difficult position, caught between attempting to create a new managerial dynasty and knowing that football is much more about short-term gains than it was during Ferguson’s first few years, but now it might be time for them to sh*t or get off the pot.
One constant of the Twitter era, and even the golden era of football forums before that, has been Manchester United fans mocking the hyper-optimism of their Liverpool counterparts.
As United chipped away at the Reds’ record-setting 18 league titles while the likes of Evans, Houllier and Benitez failed to add to the total, much of the discussion centred around the Anfield faithful’s misty-eyed attachment to the past.
Liverpool’s history still matters a great deal, bringing managers of the calibre of Jurgen Klopp, even if the pulling power hasn’t been there for the world’s top playing talent in recent years.
But those who have laughed at the “five times” crowd from a distance may soon (if not now) be forced to recognise that they are falling into the same trap.
With all this relentless reverence of a great era United don't seem to realise they're turning into Liverpool.
— Stephen Tudor (@SteTudor123) November 16, 2015
Manchester United are still a top club, that much is clear, but they’re no longer *the* club. No one is.
The idea of challenging for titles while playing free-flowing attacking football in this Premier League is a pipe dream, and to expect the same under Mourinho smacks of a brilliantly selective memory.
Some will point to Chelsea’s start to last season’s title-winning campaign, but the Fergie-esque we’ll-just-score-more-than-you victory over Everton was far from the norm.
Indeed, since the start of last season, the Blues found the net just 89 times in 46 Premier League games under Mourinho – just six more than the ostensibly boring Van Gaal.
It shouldn’t really be a contentious statement to suggest Premier League teams need to be more pragmatic, especially since the latest TV deal helped smaller sides bolster squads with the sort of players who wouldn’t be out of place in title-challenging teams overseas.
Admittedly, plenty of the complaints over Van Gaal surround his apparent lack of resources despite a not-insubstantial transfer outlay – just one of the seven defenders to start the defeats against Bournemouth and Norwich was signed by the current incumbent.
But it is patently unrealistic to expect the next man in charge, with the possible exception of Pep Guardiola, to sacrifice pragmatism for handbrake-off football, especially when even a one-off defeat in that manner – like the 5-3 reverse at Leicester last season – can bring calls for the boss’ head.
Moyes could be accused of many things, but at least he didn't get beat 5-3 my Leicester and 4-0 by MK dons #VanGaalOut
— Ross Young (@RossYoung2) September 21, 2014
Fact. David Moyes' #mufc side never conceded more than 3 goals in a single game. MK Dons 4-0 and Leicester 5-3 #vangaalout
— Andy Bebbington (@TheAndyMan1987) September 21, 2014
Leicester 5 – 3 Manchester United WHAT A GAME!! WHAT A COMEBACK Manchester United defence is worse than deportivo… #vangaalout
— Roh⚽️ (@roham_ssgh) September 21, 2014
No manager has time to build an empire these days, and more realistic Man United fans will acknowledge this.
But what’s important is finding a balance between the potential of long-term success and the avoidance of catastrophic failure in the short term. Is an injury-depleted team on the fringes of the Champions League places something that calls for immediate and massive upheaval?
If you see United as a team that needs to be running away with the title, perhaps. But if you look at them as what they are – one of the bigger teams, nothing more and nothing less – then the decision can be made to look hasty.
When Ferguson stepped down, United supporters were told that their job was to stand by the new manager. With that in mind, it’s hard to say Van Gaal and Moyes are the only ones who failed to live up to what was expected of them.
Comparisons with Ferguson are not the right approach – he arrived at the club before Sky Sports, before the Champions League and before one or two poor seasons could set a club back several years.
Indeed the appointment of Van Gaal (a man never likely to stay for more than a few years) and the links with Mourinho (who has never spent more than three full seasons at any club) ought to add to this recognition, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
An acceptance that they were just one of many was what helped Liverpool regain their mojo and come close to breaking their title-less run in 2014 and – as ‘small-time’ as it might sound to those accustomed to unmatched success – the sooner United do the same, the better.
With all the revelling in United's downfall, my only real regret is that I wasn't more of a gloating prick the last 20 years.
— Darren Richman (@darrenrichman) January 6, 2014
