There's no guarantee Mourinho could do a better job than Van Gaal at Manchester United

Coach concerns: Mourinho is being tipped to succeed Van Gaal
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Patrick Barclay21 December 2015

If the power structure at Manchester United involves decisions being made by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward with advice, when needed, from such directors as Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton, you cannot help but feel a little sympathy for them.

There must, of course, be a temptation to sack Louis van Gaal and replace him with the eagerly — almost pantingly — available Jose Mourinho. Fans disillusioned with the Dutchman’s style would be off their backs for a moment — though even this would carry risks, for style was, until recently, perceived to be the main reservation about Mourinho.

Results might also improve, as they did when David Moyes was sacrificed for Van Gaal — but again it’s a moot point because Van Gaal arrived at United when they were seventh and took them into the top four where, until Saturday, they remained. So it’s hardly a Chelsea situation. And Londoners should not imagine Mourinho is as revered around Old Trafford as he rightly remains in SW6.

United have, thus far, been rock-solid behind Van Gaal in public and to abandon him in mid-season just because Mourinho has come on a market which his agent, Jorge Mendes, is so expert at playing would make Woodward and company look, and maybe even feel, a little cheap and unworthy of the standard set by their club in Ferguson’s early years.

And, if that’s not enough to make them think carefully, what would the fans think of Mourinho being rushed in when Pep Guardiola, the god of both substance and style, is notionally available?

I say notionally because of a belief that Guardiola will go to Manchester City instead. But it wouldn’t look good, would it? Not at a time when, with City ever more global, United don’t want to look second-rate. It’s a tough decision and Ferguson, who remembers how Charlton and former chairman Martin Edwards stood by him, will know that better than anyone.

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