While Manchester United fans are entirely grateful for the rebuilding job Louis van Gaal has completed so far following the mess left by David Moyes, Red Devils supporters know the Dutchman won’t be around forever so today, we’re mulling over just what the future could hold for the men from Old Trafford.
Our Red Devils contingent in the Football Transfer Tavern didn’t read too long ago that van Gaal himself has tipped current assistant and club legend Ryan Giggs to take over his mantle as United boss when retirement comes calling at the end of next season but on the face of it, the proposed appointment of the Welshman would be a gamble.
Having been interim boss for four games at the end of David Moyes’ brief spell in charge of the club, Giggs is now well versed in the goings on of the touchline as opposed to the left wing but whether he could really make a great manager is anyone’s guess right now.
With the club having transformed since Giggs’ playing days with United now one of the forces to be reckoned with again in the transfer market having splashed some lavish fees of late, we wonder just how Giggs would get on with some claiming van Gaal’s approach has irked a few in the dressing room previously.
While everybody in the world would love to appoint Pep Guardiola, nobody is sure just how much longer he intends to remain at Bayern Munich so with other options perhaps needing to be drawn up in the interim for when van Gaal eventually departs, we’re today weighing up the pros of giving assistant boss Giggs a promotion.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 reasons why Manchester United should sack Louis van Gaal and hire Giggs.
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The fans will give him more time as a club legend
While the demands placed upon success at Manchester Unietd are naturally extremely high as you would expect from one of the world’s biggest football clubs, we’ve seen in the last transitional couple of years that even United can experience difficult spells.
We’ve seen United go down to the likes of Swansea City and PSV Eindhoven lately with no real consistency considering the fact they also managed to comfortasbly dispatch of arch-rivals Liverpool before sweeping aside Southampton at a notortiously tough venue last weekend.
Yes, Louis van Gaal is something of a cult hero with a huge following at Old Trafford but he isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, especially last season when he tinkered with the line-up so much before finally settling on a settled formation.
With somebody like Giggs in charge rather than van Gaal who everybody knows is passing through ahead of retirement, you feel the Welshman would be awarded more time and patience whenever United would be experiencing a difficult patch of results.
This would be the fact simply due to the level of service Giggs has provided United down the years but don’t get us wrong, if he were to fail to the proportions and regularity that David Moyes did, it would be difficult to see United fans even remotely turn on somebody – results wise – who is so dear to their hearts.
An even greater sense of identity and unity will be fostered
As mentioned on our previous slide, United needed a great experienced character of the game such as Louis van Gaal to come in and steady the ship following the Moyes misery and on the whole, the Dutchman has done a relatively good job so far.
Nevertheless, with an entire generation of United fans having grown up only knowing about themes of continuity under Sir Alex Ferguson, it’s been quite strange to adjust to a manager who will ultimately be at Old Trafford for the short-term.
Under somebody like Giggs who would just be starting out on his managerial journey, you feel there would be a much greater sense of identity and unity for the Red Devils who lets face it, all idolise gig as a former player and as a club icon.
While van Gaal is of course known the world over, by having somebody like Giggs in charge, the whole squad would appear that much tighter under somebody who has United running in his blood.
Sir Alex Ferguson & Louis van Gaal have both already spotted managerial greatness in him
Having been an assistant manager for a little while now, in addition to his four-game spell in charge of the Red Devils as interim boss in 2014, Ryan Giggs is well versed in what happens on the touchline and not only has he received an endorsement from Louis van Gaal but also Sir Alex Ferguson to boot.
You can’t really get a better judge of character that Sir Alex when it comes to United although it must be said the legendary Scot did take to the Old Trafford centre circle to preach to United fans that they should trust in their new manager David Moyes!
Banter aside, if both van Gaal and Ferguson have spotted managerial greatness in Giggs, it’s hard to disagree with their vision, such is the experience of the managerial duo.
A different level of respect from the players?
While Louis van Gaal has managed some of the biggest names in the game as an experience coach who is most definitely respected, you feel Ryan Giggs would earn a different level of respect from players currently at United and those potentially brought in, in the future.
Being a club legend at Old Trafford, younger players would be inspired by his story and even David Beckham has confessed about his United career in the past that: “He (Giggs) was the one that set the benchmark for us. He was the one we looked up to and yet he was only a year or two older than us. We never reached his heights because he is one of the best players of all time.”
Having been one of the most decorated players in football history, let alone the Premier League, you feel younger players would be encouraged to come and play for such an icon of the game, respecting and trying harder for him in the process.
Because he only lost one game in charge as interim boss!!
The lucky thing for Giggs in his fledgling coaching career so far is that he’s actually already been afforded the taste of being Red Devils manager proper on an interim basis for the final games of the 2013/14 campaign after being appointed on April 22nd 2014 after David Moyes’ dismissal
In the four games he managed at the end of that season, Giggs only lost one fixture and a surprise one at that at home to Sunderland with the Black Cats prevailing by a scoreline of 0-1.
Of the other three games he was in charge, Giggs defeated Norwich City 4-0 in his first game while beating both Hull City 3-1 and drawing against Southampton 1-1 in the final game of the campaign.
We all know that you can’t predict a manager’s long-term success off just four games alone but what we’re saying is that he’s only tasted defeat just once so in this instance, he did get something of an instant reaction from players who had largely failed under Moyes for the previous large part of the season.
