Owen Hargreaves says that it is wrong to blame only Louis Van Gaal

Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves says that it is wrong to blame only Louis Van Gaal for the troubles that the club has been facing the 2015-16 season.

This is because he believes that the seeds of mediocrity were sown as early as during the David Moyes era. The club reduced the spending in the transfer window during the final years of Sir Alex Ferguson. This mentality continued even when the team appointed Moyes. Ferguson’s brilliance was a major factor in United winning the league title in 2013, but they were woefully exposed under Moyes.

The club has been unable to recover since then. However, many are left surprised with United still struggling to come anywhere near contention for a trophy. This is due to the £ 300 million splashed out on new players by manager Van Gaal. Due to his reputation, the club did not think twice about spending money on new players like Di Maria. Hargreaves reckons that the investment should have come much earlier and the board should not have allowed the squad to disintegrate. The former City and United player claims that the club has lost direction in the last few years.

“I don’t think Manchester United will make a change but first of all it is David Moyes’ fault then it was Louis van Gaal’s fault. At what point does the club take some responsibility for the fact the way they’ve recruited players. Moyes wasn’t doing a yacht charter in Scotland when they signed Fellaini. The best players don’t play for Manchester United anymore right now. Some of them best individual players, they’re going to Manchester City, they’re at Chelsea, they’re at Arsenal. Then they need to start recruiting players to play in that fashion. I think right now in terms of Manchester United being fifth in the Premier league, they play like they’re fifth,” said Hargreaves.