Man United avoid devastating day, but not season after rivals Man City end Champions League hopes

Manchester United avoided a potentially devastating situation today at Old Trafford.

Its match against Bournemouth was postponed after a suspicious package was found inside the stadium and deemed to be a bomb threat. Once fans were escorted out of the stadium, bomb disposal experts arrived on the scene to carry out a controlled explosion — a method used for disabling a suspected explosive device.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. But unfortunately for United fans, avoiding catastrophe didn’t become the overarching theme of the day. That much was confirmed after Manchester City drew 1-1 with Swansea to confirm a place in the top four, ending United’s chances of Champions League qualification.

And it certainly is devastating that Louis Van Gaal was unable to steer his side to a second consecutive top four finish. Especially since United were primed to take a one-point lead over City going into the Premier League season’s final weekend.

Instead, last Tuesday’s match against West Ham saw the Reds capitulate and blow a 2-1 second half lead, eventually losing 3-2 and handing Hammers’ fans a fairytale ending to the Boleyn Ground’s stint as the club’s home venue. The result meant City had to merely avoid defeat today at Swansea to plunge the red side of Manchester into the often disesteemed Europa League.

Nonetheless, the Europa League is what the club deserves after an often frustrating and seldom inspiring season. Van Gaal’s constricting style of play, with its slow tempo and over-calculated moves in the final third have led to some of the club’s most lackluster performances in its modern history. But the team’s style of play is just the tip of the iceberg.

Van Gaal has often preached that his immutable philosophy — however dull — was primed to lead the Red Devils to success, or at least progress.

There’s been no evidence of either.

The Dutchman would have a solid base for his argument had he led United to victory against West Ham last week. He would warrant praise, and possibly another season in charge at Old Trafford, had he completed a rousing final stretch of the season to confirm Champions League soccer — especially because it would have entailed confining his city rivals and their new manager Pep Guardiola to Europa League purgatory.

But he didn’t.

After convincing United fans he had positioned the club for a successful finish to the season, Van Gaal fell flat on his face at the most pivotal moment. Because of that, he does not deserve to come back as manager next season.

Soccer is a results business and the only reason Van Gaal has been kept on at United is because of his history of conjuring success. That’s exactly why the board has put up with two years of an unimaginative product on the pitch. They were taking into account the foundation of the Dutchman’s iceberg, not just the unsightly tip most see when they tune into a United match.

Surely, now that United is bound to enter the summer transfer window as a club without Champions League soccer and a fringe member of a possibly eight-team title race, a change must be made. If not, United risk turning Old Trafford into a less-than-ideal destination for elite transfer targets who will likely be wary of Van Gaal’s draconian managerial tactics.

At this point, with another season of mediocrity on the horizon, it’s time for Van Gaal to leave his post so United can build off of the little foundation he has built in the form of Anthony Martial, a bundle of young talent, a developed Chris Smalling and a potential parting gift in the FA Cup.

The Dutchman did his job by steadying the ship after the David Moyes debacle, but it’s apparent now more than ever that another season of Van Gaal will anchor United in the sludge of mediocrity that Liverpool flirted with the past two decades.

So yes, it’s devastating that United won’t be playing Champions League soccer next season, but it will be catastrophic if Van Gaal is the man trusted to lead the team back into Europe’s premier competition.

Next: Spurs boss Pochettino faces key questions this summer

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