"That was probably the deciding factor in my dismissal from Manchester United," Louis van Gaal told The Athletic — and he's talking about losing fourth place to Manchester City on goal difference in 2016. Now that City have been found guilty of 114 financial violations between 2009 and 2018, that wound has reopened with a vengeance.
The timeline matters here. Van Gaal won the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace on a Saturday. Twenty-four hours later, he was sacked. The reason wasn't the trophy in his hands — it was United's catastrophic second-half collapse across the season, which left them fifth, edged out of the Champions League spots by their cross-city rivals on goal difference alone.
A grievance with a new edge
Van Gaal isn't wrong to feel aggrieved. His United side actually got the better of City that season — four points from two games, including a teenage Marcus Rashford scoring the winner at the Etihad. On the pitch, he had their number. Off it, the mathematics betrayed him.
But City's guilty verdict, whatever the outcome of their appeal, doesn't rewrite the table. Van Gaal acknowledged it himself: "I cannot turn back history now. Not even the English Football Association can." That's a man who knows he has a case and also knows it doesn't matter anymore.
United deserve a share of the blame too. They held fourth place within touching distance going into the final weeks, then lost to West Ham in the penultimate fixture and handed City the breathing room they needed. Van Gaal's frustration is understandable, but his side's form from December onwards made it possible.
What the numbers say about his tenure
He leaves with 54 wins from 103 matches — a 52 percent win rate. Fourth in his first season, fifth in his second. In the post-Ferguson landscape, that wasn't enough, and José Mourinho was waiting.
For anyone revisiting United's mid-2010s chaos through a betting lens, their inconsistency under Van Gaal was a preview of a longer structural collapse — one that didn't stabilise for years. City, financial violations and all, went on to dominate English football. That's the part Van Gaal can't escape.
"I cannot turn back history now." He's right. And that's exactly what makes it so galling.
