Van Gaal’s gravitas shines light on Manchester United’s Moyes gap year

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The grim reaper will not be necessary at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon. Louis van Gaal visits the venue where David Moyes was poignantly reminded of his disposability in his final game as Manchester United manager with his new-look team higher in the table than Everton, on course for a Champions League place and with Roberto Martínez predicting the trophies will start to roll into Old Trafford next season.

After an unpromising start Van Gaal has managed what Moyes could not and produced a side that plays as a United team should. The arguments will rage about whether some sort of sacrificial interim was necessary to act as a buffer after the Sir Alex Ferguson years or whether United should have gone straight down the supercoach route and made an approach to José Mourinho, but the issue has been resolved now. Van Gaal looks like delivering on the target he was set at the start of the season, a top-four finish, even if he sets himself slightly higher standards than that. “The club set Europe as the goal for me to achieve but that is not my only aim,” Van Gaal said. “I am here to win championships, not to finish third or fourth. Maybe next year.”

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via Football | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1b1U82C