Was sacked by Manchester United - blames the "suffering" on cheating accused City

Dutch football manager Louis van Gaal is one of six managers to have been sacked by Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. He succeeded David Moyes in 2014 and left the club in 2016.

The departure from the club was preceded by a season in which Manchester United finished fifth in the Premier League. It meant that the club did not qualify for the Champions League; to do so would have required a place in the top four.

"For me, at the time, it (missing the Champions League in 2016) was probably the deciding factor in my departure from Manchester United and all the consequences and all the suffering that entailed," van Gaal told The New York Times sports site The Athletic.

The club that snubbed United for a Champions League place in 2016 was arch-rival Manchester City, who with the same number of points, but a better goal difference, finished fourth in the league. At the end of September this year, an independent commission condemned Manchester City on 114 points for breaching the Premier League's financial rules.

The fraud for which City has been convicted took place between 2009 and 2018. It resulted in City being able to increase revenues and reduce expenses by a total corresponding to SEK 12 billion. The club has appealed the verdict and thus no punishment has yet been announced.

Louis van Gaal tells The Athletic that he believes his time at Manchester United could have ended happier if the Premier League had been a fair league at the time. He thinks the verdict comes too late to make any difference for him.

"I cannot change history. Not even the English Football Association can do that," he writes to the site.

After the now-appealed case is settled, further legal rounds may await. Rival clubs could conceivably demand compensation from Manchester City.

According to The Telegraph, the four clubs Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham announced in September 2024 that they reserved the right to seek compensation from City if they were convicted.

Manchester City submitted their appeal on 1 October. According to the Premier League's appeals rules, the hearing must be completed no later than 12 weeks after the date the appeal was lodged. After the last day of negotiations, the Premier League's appeal board must deliver its decision within 30 days.