Louis van Gaal on Manchester United chief Ed Woodward: “He has zero understanding of football”

Photo/John Peters/Getty Images Louis van Gaal has torn into Manchester United chief Ed Woodward. Van Gaal managed United for two seasons between 2014 and 2016, taking the team to fourth and fifth in the table and winning the FA Cup in his final game. He said: “At Bayern, the people in charge are football men. I always appreciated that. At Manchester United, on the other hand, Ed Woodward was installed as CEO — somebody with zero understanding of football who was previously an investment banker. It cannot be a good thing when a club is run solely from a commercially-driven perspective. I don't hold it against the club. They wanted Mourinho and he was on the market. But appointing Mourinho was obviously interesting from a business point of view.” He explained: “He wins games. And for a club like United, the main thing is to win trophies. How they are won isn't the main priority, the English fans see it differently. They accept that the game is not all about attacking but it is also about defending. I always tried to defend high up the pitch, to be in the opposition's half and play the game there.”

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