"I couldn't care less about CL football next season if LVG is still here."

[Stretch]

My 'wants' as a fan is very simple.

1. Qualify for UCL by getting 4th minimum (very long shot at 3rd)
2. Win the FA Cup
3. Have LvG step down/sacked and hire JM

It would be bitter sweet if LvG stays because we achieve both 1 and 2 but as fan I can't help myself but to support the team and hope for the 3 outcomes listed here

 

[PieCrust]

I want what's best for the club, and obviously getting 4th and winning the FA Cup are the best outcomes for this season. However, I'm with everyone who cannot stomach another season under LVG. I just don't see how I can possibly get excited and commit time to watching this crap for another season.

 

[marlowe78]

I always want us to win and the feeling of wanting to lose is something that would disgust me. However, where we are at the moment makes me want to look at things more pragmatically. It would be great to have CL football again and knock City out for next season but if we did nick 4th, there could be a very good chance that LVG is here another season. I've found most of our performances and the general atmosphere around the club stifling and getting rid of him will clear the air a bit. Our style of play is terrible and LVG has looked totally inept in his decision-making. We are only in contention for 4th because of another great season from De Gea, superb play from Martial and Smalling, and the general quality of the squad which I think is much better than we've shown.

If we manage to get 4th, those inside the club who don't want Mourinho will latch onto that chance to keep LVG in the job, or at least put up a stiff fight, and Woodward has admitted that he's close with LVG. So this would basically drag us through another season of the same shite play and poor managing, with probably another ton of money spent on underachieving signings. We also went out in the easiest CL group that we could get, so there is nothing to make us think that we would go anywhere if we made it. I would be happy to play in CL if it looked like we could make a serious case for ourselves in the knockouts but who could really believe that we'd do that under LVG against clubs like Barca and Bayern? We've barely looked Europa material this season.

So on the face of it, I look at either making top 4, possibly going into next season with LVG, going out in the group stages/round of 16 in CL, losing or drawing regularly to clubs like Norwich, Bournemouth, Middlesborough, etc., and struggling to get top 4 again. Or, we can get rid, hire a new manager (I'm not plugging for Mourinho specifically), and take a chance on getting this club moving in the right direction. The later seems the better choice to me and it might take elimination from top 4 as the way to get it started. I never want to see us fail, but sometimes the coin has to drop for the people in charge to get off their arses.

 

[Dr Fink]

If we perform like we did in this season's CL then what is the point?

 

[Mr.Kaya]

This argument goes full circle again. Will Arsenal with Wenger be more attractive to say Chelsea and City comes this summer? Chelsea and City may miss out the CL, but with the new proven winner managers and new the project to win trophies in near future. Is that less attractive for 4ever Arsenal Wenger?

What does more money mean if the team is not on the right track and the extra money mostly paid toward overpriced players (to persuade them to come to the club with no ambition). The last 3 years, only Blind and Martial can be deemed as good signings. Had the extra CL money been well spent under this manager? If the signings actually are good, then it clearly points to mismanagement. Whose fault is it? How to improve? Haul off the squad and buy new again for the manager to stay for an extra year after achieving top 4? Or change the management and improve upon the existing squad?

Every top-players wants to play in the CL - there's no doubt about that. To your first question: All 3 of those clubs you mention are big clubs that normally qualifies for CL year after year, specially Arsenal and Chelsea. As you say will Chelsea and maybe City too(or us) miss out of the CL which I'd say is a blow for them. Maybe not moneywise(since they both have extremely rich owners), but in other ways. It would be much worse if they/we skipped CL 2 seasons in a row of course. Both Chelsea and City are still attractive clubs and I guess that wont change for quite a while now when they got new topquality managers in the summer.

To your second question: Money is always needed in clubs and its Woodward and LvGs responsibility to make sure that the money is used right and on the right players. I fully agree that they haven't used the money right when it comes to signing both under Moyes and LvG.

 

[Sigma]

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/top-4-van-gaal-stays-or-no-top-4-van-gaal-leaves.415853/

Now first this may seem a simple question but then delve it a bit deeper it becomes an intriguing one. We get Champions League football for next season, but with van Gaal, the majority of people on the caf wouldn't back him to go anywhere near winning that competition let alone any other competition. So basically we get into the champions league for nothing, basically wasting a year, and wasting another chance of getting Mourinho. Who's available then, we might be stuck with Giggs who is an extreme risk, which could end up costing us yet more years.

On the other hand we take a year away from Champions League football, get Mourinho in, let him test the waters with the players, give him the money to spend to do what he feels is necessary and based on his extremely impressive history, we should reap the rewards. Leicester came from 20th to 1st within the last year, why can't we go from 5-6th to 1st with arguably the best manager and probably the most hungry and ready manager we could get. The majority of the caf would agree that we have a much better chance of doing something with Mourinho than van Gaal, why delay the inevitable - van Gaal is only here for 1 more year anyway. No brainer for me, I'd rather no top 4 and van Gaal leaves.

What about your choice, poll would be nice.

 

[Gazza]

"Champions League qualification" seems more of a financial guarantee against the club's long term stability, essentially a requirement set by money men which defines the whole worth of a season (i.e. 4th place = good season; 5th place = disaster)

in truth, it matters little to me as a supporter. I wanna see smiles on the faces of match day fans, which comes from the 90 minutes on the pitch; a season of frowns punctuated with Ed declaring targets met in his conference calls does nothing for me.

Champions League is not such a romantic competition when we're tripping over teams like PSV, it's just another stage for us to advertise what a poor football team we are

So for me I want to be a bit more secure in my belief that this club has a strategy and a plan for the future. I don't think we have that at the moment. So give me that before another season of CL football, please. If that means sacking LVG and finishing 5th then I won't be disappointed

 

[Gazza]

Personally I feel like we have been somewhat brainwashed as supporters (not just United, but most big clubs) into thinking that CL is the be all and end all, some kind of instant ticket to gratification. But as some posters have already said, what is true point of being in that competition if you know you have no chance of winning it or even giving a good account of yourselves? I realize it's a fundamental target for the decision makers at the club, and of course there is some benefit to be had in terms of the future success of the club with finances and attracting new players, but personally I couldn't give a shit if we're in CL or not compared to actually being half decent to watch in the league season