LVG FURY AT UNITED SACKING
left Chelsea. “I think it was all orchestrated like a film and it was done very much behind my back, right from January,” Van Gaal said. “I was publicly placed on the gallows.
“The pressure was enormous, with my head in the noose, and they went right behind my back.
“My wife Truus told me that the attitude of the board had changed. Women have this intuition. They smell it. I denied it, even to my wife, because, between me as a manager and the chief executive Ed Woodward, everything was running as normal.”
Van Gaal describes the way United launched their charm offensive to land Mourinho as the “biggest disappoinment of my life”.
“Suddenly former players started to yap in the media that we were playing boring football and Mourinho’s sacking made it very attractive to keep bashing me,” he added.
“Suddenly, Mourinho was out and I knew United wanted him one day.
“They told me only after it was leaked out and it was the biggest disappointment of my life.
“But, after what happened, I made them pay every penny.”
Van Gaal also accused United of being more interested in financial figures than football results.
“Manchester United had record (financial) figures in the two years that I was there,” he said.
“And don’t underestimate what that means for United. Nothing as important as the figures for United!
‘’Were they unhappy about the results or the performances under my management? No, all of a sudden they could get Mourinho, a manager with a massive commercial value.’’
Van Gaal claims Woodward has even admitted the real reason of getting a coach with bigger commercial value to him in person.
Van Gaal: “Woodward finally said this exactly so to me – the day after the FA Cup Final.”