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As Manchester United fans watched their last best hope for a fighting resurgence this season disappear against their bitterest rivals at Old Trafford, heads were held in hands around the world and shouts were cried out in houses and bars across almost every nation to do something, anything. And the manager, of course, did nothing.
Louis van Gaal has doodled while United burned all season. After spending offensive amounts of money in his two seasons, the team has looked worse on most occasions than it did under David Moyes, who must feel like the most vindicated man in history at this point.
True, this was not the worst performance of the season, not by a long shot. There was energy and enthusiasm at times, a dim dream that perhaps there was magic yet in the theater that used to produce it regularly. There were a few chances and an eagerness to take them that has been missing at times. And players like Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford suggest there might be redemption tomorrow even if there is no solace tonight.
With commentators recounting the history of uncanny results, and a reputation on the line of a team that could never be counted out, that potential future at the end of the tunnel feels far too distant, especially with Louis van Gaal blocking out the light.
Right now, that history and that reputation are a joke. And it is Liverpool who is laughing. They are joking, jovial and feisty, in fact, and ever on the up under Jurgen Klopp.
Meanwhile, as the final whistle blew, United fans were not even stunned. They were angry. The BBC reported chairs flying and punches thrown. The violence is unforgivable and inexcusable, but the sentiment and the feeling of betrayal is all too reasonable. Why not tear the stadium down? There’s no magic left there anymore.
It is both easy and right to blame van Gaal for all this. Yes, the players are not playing, and yes, there have been injuries and setbacks, but it is entirely his job to counter that. These are systemic problems, which cannot be dismissed as a bad bunch or a bad phase or bad luck. Not anymore. For two seasons, van Gaal has had an excess of injuries and a paucity of passion. And watching perhaps his last chance at Champions League soccer for next season perish, he did no more than could be expected: he sat and he doodled and he waited for the chance to leave.
There has been much debate about the next in line for Sir Alex Ferguson’s old seat — whether it ought to be former-captain Ryan Giggs or the bellicose genius Jose Mourinho — but the performance tonight demands a different kind of response. At this moment, it doesn’t matter who is in charge tomorrow. Just so long as Louis van Gaal is fired tonight.
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