‘Pay Attention’—Ex-Man Utd Manager Tears Into Sir Jim Ratcliffe Ownership | OneFootball

Louis van Gaal has never been one to sugarcoat anything. The defiantly blunt Dutch coach delivered another searing review of his unloved former employers Manchester United, insisting that the key factor behind the club’s steady decline has not changed since Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquired a minority stake in 2024.

Van Gaal took over the listing behemoth in 2014, inheriting the chaos which had unfolded under David Moyes just one year on from Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement. During his two-year spell at Old Trafford, which saw United finish fourth and fifth while winning the 2016 FA Cup, Van Gaal was quick to criticise the club’s mangled hierarchy.

While operating under the sole control of the Glazer family, who had appointed Ed Woodward as executive vice-chairman in the wake of Ferguson’s seismic departure, Van Gaal felt that United were prioritising profits rather than points.

Woodward effectively confirmed this stance while talking to a group of investment analysts. “Playing performance doesn’t really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business,” he infamously insisted.

Ratcliffe’s minority investment came with the promise of sporting control. Jason Wilcox is now the club’s dedicated director of football following a major overhaul in the recruitment department. Yet, Van Gaal has not changed his stance.

Jason Wilcox (left) is has taken a step up while Sir Dave Brailsford has been nudged down the pecking order. / IMAGO/Sportimage

“It’s still a commercial club,” the Dutchman sniffed in an interview with Sky Sports this week. “It’s not a football club, I think. I have said that before. And that’s always difficult. When [it’s] not the manager [who] is deciding which player has to come, it’s very difficult.”

Van Gaal was asked if a manager should be in charge of recruitment. “I think this is the way that it should be, because then you can fire a manager because he doesn’t give any results.

“But when other persons buy the players, then you have a problem. Because you need to have the knowledge of the manager, the orientation of the manager, because he has to train them.

“So I think it shall be always like that. And Arne Slot [Liverpool manager] is the man who says to his technical manager that he has to buy this player. Pay attention to it.”

Despite Van Gaal’s claims, Slot has routinely praised the work of Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director in charge of all transfers. In fact, many would argue that United’s biggest problem in recent years has been buying players for specific managers who are then sacked, leaving the next incumbent with an unholy hodgepodge of players which suit wildly different systems.