Manchester United’s treatment of Louis van Gaal cost them Daley Blind
Manchester United’s firing of Louis van Gaal could cause serious friction between the club and Daley Blind
One crucial step when firing a manager is effectively communicating the decision to your key players before the news hits the press. Manchester United botched this completely as it relates to star defender Daley Blind.
According to Goal.com, Blind claims that he wasn’t notified of any managerial change prior to today’s announcement from the club on van Gaal. Furthermore, he claims that he saw “no signs” of van Gaal’s impending departure before his firing was formally announced.
While I seriously doubt that Blind can honestly claim he had no idea van Gaal’s job might be in jeopardy, it’s still a troubling statement from one of the club’s leaders. United should have taken much greater care to make sure their key players felt more involved in the process.
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That doesn’t mean that Ed Woodward and company should have consulted players on whether or not to fire van Gaal. It just means that treating them like the general public when it came to delivering the news seems like a pretty serious error. This is just the sort of oversight that causes players to think they aren’t valued very highly by their club.
Perhaps United are ready to move on from Daley Blind, but that doesn’t seem likely given the utility he provided the club this past season. He was a rock in the middle of their central defense, and he may be even better when deployed naturally as a defensive midfielder. Replacing his excellent play and his versatility could prove to be quite expensive at Old Trafford.
Even if Woodward and company weren’t going to take the time to communicate with all of the players about van Gaal’s departure directly, you’d think Blind would have been one of their first calls. After all, he is the player with the most history with the Dutch boss due to playing for him during International play. He is the United player most likely to be upset about van Gaal’s unceremonious departure.
It’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Blind would be quite angry over the managerial change. He was comfortable with van Gaal, and had an unquestioned place in his starting 11. All bets are off with Mourinho entering the fray.
Perhaps it would be better for Blind to secure a move away from Old Trafford rather than risk his status under “The Special One.” He could easily head back to his homeland and star for one of his native clubs. He’s proven he can perform adequately in the Premier League and no one could hold that against him as a limitation in the future.
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Manchester United have taken a great risk by failing to give Daley Blind a heads up about manager Louis van Gaal’s departure. It’s quite possible it could cost the Red Devils the talented defender’s services this summer.