United had my head in a noose, claims Van Gaal
Mourinho in a huff as Choupo-Moting double ends perfect record
LOUIS VAN GAAL has spoken out about the final months of his reign at Manchester United, claiming the club ‘put his head in a noose’ before going behind his back to recruit Jose Mourinho and sack him.
The Dutchman was in charge at Old Trafford for two seasons, winning the FA Cup in his final match, but it ended badly when the board eyed up Mourinho as their next manager.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, Van Gaal said: ‘The pressure was enormous with my head in the noose and they went right behind my back. I think it was all orchestrated like a film and it was done very much behind my back right from January. I do understand that choice of United to get Mourinho. Suddenly, Mourinho was out after one-and-a-half years of my contract and I knew United wanted him one day.’
A year on, Van Gaal, who is still without a job, seems to still hold some ill-feeling towards his former club and he admits he has tried to get every penny he can from them. ‘They told me [about my sacking] only after it was leaked out and it was the biggest disappointment of my life,’ he continues. ‘United did not discuss this with me.
‘If they had come to me with the Mourinho plan then I could have said “OK, let’s give it everything for the last six months, complete commitment to each other and the team and then Jose Mourinho can take over.” They could have saved the last year of my salary by doing that but after what happened I made them pay every penny.’
A LITTLE bit loose, was how Mark Hughes described some of Manchester United’s play on the eve of this fixture. Brave, considering he was preparing for the only Premier League team holding a 100 per cent record.
Correct though, on evidence of a fascinating contest that fluctuated one way then the other and ended with United loosening their grip on top spot.
A 2-2 draw wiped out the advantage previously enjoyed over neighbours City, and now only goal difference separates Jose Mourinho’s side from Pep Guardiola’s.
Having experienced a calm beginning to this campaign, Mourinho cut an irritable figure on the touchline as the result became apparent.
He clashed with Hughes on the touchline, receiving a push from the Stoke manager in response, he gave mock applause when Stoke returned a drop ball long, and at the final whistle pointedly refused to shake his opposite number’s hand. Hughes gave a sarcastic wave in response. Clearly t here i s genuine needle between these two.
Before the real warfare, there had been s o me friendly fire. Hughes , known as Sparky in his playing days, sent out the first shot by saying he had detected weaknesses in United’s armoury and Mourinho responded with typical wryness. ‘I feel sorry he doesn’t say specifically so he can help us to be a better team,’ smirked the Portuguese. ‘ So maybe after the match he is nice and tells us the weaknesses, because I have some doubts if he is a Chelsea fan or a Man United fan.’ But Mourinho (left) did amend his team to the particular challenges posed by Stoke. United accumulated nine points from the opening three games, scoring 10 and conceding none, yet against Swansea and Leicester parts of their play were defensively frayed. So Juan Mata made way for midfield ter-
rier Ander Herrera, and Matteo Darmian replaced Daley Blind at left-back. It made for a United team of sturdy appearance.
But inside 60 seconds that image was shaken. Jese Rodriguez improvised by the touchline with a flick over his head and suddenly Maxim Choupo- Moting was in the clear, played onside by Eric Bailly. The United defender caught up the Stoke forward and blocked his shot but it was an early warning sign.
The frenetic opening continued when Marcus Rashford sped through on two minutes only to underhit his pass to Romelu Lukaku. And by three minutes Stoke had another chance when Jese ran on to a big clearance by goalkeeper Jack Butland only to drag his shot wide.
United grew into the game and began to test Stoke’s back-three with persistent runs in behind. With Ryan Shawcross injured, Kevin Wimmer came straight in and the £18 million signing from Tottenham had a hard evening looking over his shoulder.
It was down his left channel that Herrera fed Lukaku, whose square ball Paul Pogba tried to backheel goalwards, resulting in a block and a corner. It was a similar move in the 24th minute when Rashford was sent through, but his shot was saved by Butland with his legs.
Stoke retaliated when Xherdan Shaqiri found space to shoot 20 yards out, but David de Gea got down well to save. And United went straight on the attack. Pogba slid to Rashford, who teased Kurt Zouma and hit an unexpectedly early shot that Butland was down smartly to save. Shaqiri then had another long-distance effort, this time held by De Gea.
It was still a surprise when Stoke took the lead two minutes before the break with a goal created by two players formerly of Old Trafford.
Darren Fletcher delivered a delicious ball to the wing, where Mame Biram Diouf had been played onside again by Bailly. Diouf controlled and crossed so Choupo-Moting was given a simple finish, Bailly having failed to react to the danger.
Hughes celebrated with gusto. But on the stroke of half-time, United levelled. Nemanja Matic flicked on Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner and Pogba was in inordinate space inside the six- yard box. His header was probably going in but ricocheted off the back of Rashford’s head into the top corner.
Stoke emerged for the second half with energy but United soaked it up and hit back harder, going ahead in the 57th minute. Darmian dispossessed Joe Allen and advanced, passi ng to Mkhitaryan, who spotted Lukaku’s burst and threaded the ball accordingly. One- on- one, Butland saved the Belgian’s first-time shot but was unable to stop the follow-up as Lukaku made it four Premier League goals for the season.
Stoke’s defending left a lot to be desired but an enforced half-time reshuffle of Bruno Martins Indi for Geoff Cameron had an impact.
If that seemed the point when Mourinho’s side would lock the win down, Stoke confounded expectations. Six minutes later, Erik Pieters picked out Jese with a cross and the Spaniard’s volley was destined for the roof of the net until De Gea produced utterly remarkable reactions to tip over. It was only a stay of execution.
Shaqiri hit an excellent deep corner and Choupo-Moting beat a tumbling Phil Jones to nod in for his second of the match. Not bad for a free signing from Schalke.
Mourinho sent on Anthony Martial and the Frenchman nearly continued his habit of causing devastation off the bench. He produced a brilliant cross to find Lukaku free eight yards out, but the finish went wildly over. It was a very poor miss. A little bit loose, you might say.