HIGH-RANKING Manchester United director David Gill has piled the pressure on beleaguered Louis van Gaal by admitting the club are going through a season of “under-achievement.”
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| David Gill has piled the pressure on Louis van Gaal by claiming the club are underachieving |
And former chief executive Gill, now a member of United’s board, admitted the football played under the Dutchman is not “attractive.”
Van Gaal's future is back in the balance after United fans turned on him following the 1-0 home defeat to Southampton that left them five points adrift of the top four.
It means United have the lowest total of points and goals after 23 games in the Premier League era. And Gill is not impressed – although he refused to be drawn on Van Gaal’s future.
Speaking to BBC Radio Five he said: “Clearly we all hope the results would be better and we are all disappointed with that. Undoubtedly it has been a season of underachievement given the investment that was made in the summer.
“But I know everyone is working hard to turn that round. It's not easy running that club. It's a difficult process. We have to turn it around ourselves.
“You want to be challenging for trophies - but you have to accept you can't win every year. That's the attractiveness of the game. You just have to stick with what you think is right to turn it around. What Leicester is doing is fantastic and demonstrates the strength of the Premier League.
“That strength will only increase next year with the new TV deals. It gives everyone a real ability of they get everything right to attract top players.
"I'm not going to sit here and say it's that attractive - for me, what we did in the past was great. You have to the players to do that. United, going back to the 1950s under Matt Busby, have had that - and I started supporting when we had George Best. We want attractive football and I'm sure we will try and do that going forward.
“Louis van Gaal has managed in Germany, Holland, Spain at the top clubs. I don't think he's found that [adapting to English football] difficult. He's come into English football and the sheer competitiveness of it … that's there for everyone to see. “
As for the crowd reaction at the end of yesterday’s game, Gill added: “Nobody likes to see that. We need to stay calm and act with the club in mind in terms of its proposals and targets and where it's moving forward. The wider point is for Ed Woodward and the owners to discuss and which direction the club is going.
“Given the result yesterday it was the worst result for me coming on this programme. It's not for me - I'm not the spokesperson for Manchester United. I'm not going to be drawn on those questions, I'm not privy to the conversations. “
United have been linked with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola and Gill refused to rule out a move for either of them. “They're very good managers, but there are lots of very good managers. You can't stop the speculation. You just to have to be stable - you hear the distractions but you just have to be focussed. We all speak about everything.”
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| Jose Mourinho has been heavily linked with the top job at Man United |
He said that any decision on Van Gaal's future will be taken by the quoted company board on the New York stock exchange which is chaired by Joel and Avram Glazer, United’s American owners.
"There are two boards - the quoted company board on the New York stock exchange which is where all the key decisions are taken, which Ed Woodward now runs.
“The football club board which has Sir Bobby [Charlton] and Sir Alex [Ferguson] is an ambassadorial board and that discusses various football matters.
“If the New Yorkboard want to discuss matters with us, they will. We had great success under Sir Alex and we want that to continue. There's great strength in the club, the deals that they've done has given a really stable base and everyone is working hard to bring back the success years. We all want that. “
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