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While I have never been a fan of Louis van Gaal and naturally did not approve his glamorous appointment as the new manager of Manchester United, even I could not have envisioned the horrific start of the season for the Red Devils. With just 2 points in 3 rounds against low profile opposition and coming after a historical 0-4 defeat to MK Dons, fans are wondering if the Dutchman is really the man to replace Sir Alex Ferguson and the odds for him to be sacked are dropping every day. While I`m sure this has been covered in many papers and blogs, here are Betdistrict`s own 7 Reasons for which we think van Gaal will not succeed in Manchester.

1. Is van Gaal really a top class manager?
While the Dutchman has a lot of accolades under his belt which can not be denied (including the 3rd place finish in the 2014 World Cup), the fact is he had a couple of truly monumental failures in his career. We can mention here missing the 2002 World Cup with Netherlands (knocked out by Portugal and the Republic of Ireland) and guiding Barcelona to the relegation zone, there was also a horrible season with Alkmaar and getting sacked from Bayern Munchen. These were all big time failures and prove van Gaal is far from being a guarantee, in contrast to other top managers like Hiddink, Mourinho and the list can go on. The start of van Gaal`s career is what made him a star, but fact is his name seems to precede his performances in the last 15 years. This guy is NOT a football genius, as some make him out to be.

2. Tactical system
Louis van Gaal insists on playing in a 3-4-1-2 formation, which is obviously not suited for English football. No team ever had success in playing with 3 defenders in the Premier League and the Dutch manager seems reluctant to change the tactic, which could lead to his demise.

3. Defense
While United is stacked with quality all over, their defense is not up to standards and if you are playing with (only) Jones, Smalling and Rojo at the back, sides like Chelsea, Liverpool, City or Arsenal (even Tottenham) are set to have a field day against you. Defense wins you titles and the fact that van Gaal purposely refused to improve this area despite unlimited transfer funds is not honoring him at all.

4. Transfers
United spent a record £150m on transfers this summer, which is actually about £200m if they make the Falcao deal permanent (currently he`s on loan). While all these signings theoretically work in van Gaal’s favor, they could actually end up sacking him – there`s absolutely no way that Manchester United will have too much patience with the Dutchman after this balance-crippling transfer window. The fact that Van Gaal is known as a slow starter, his lack of Premier League experience and the lack of investments in the defensive area could speed up the process and clearly the manager is under huge pressure to deliver soon.

5. Manchester United board
This is in tight relation with the last point, but there`s more. The fact that the Manchester United Board only gave Van Gaal a 3 year contract (Moyes got 6) is a sign that they might not see him as the next Sir Alex Ferguson. The ownership also proved they WILL sack managers due to lack of results, so these two factors coupled with the summer investments suggest that Van Gaal won’t stay at United if results do not come soon.

6. Competition / Competitions
The Premier League has never been stronger and United already lost a couple of big points in the start of the season. Even if they magically start playing great football, it will be very hard to dethrone the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, even Liverpool or Arsenal. Combine this with the fact that United is not playing European football and is out from the League Cup and you might start to wonder what they can do this season. Even if they start playing well (which is a big IF), their only real chance for a trophy looks to be the FA Cup, which is very far from a guarantee. Will a 4th place finish and an FA Cup final be enough for the board? I doubt it, and this looks close to the best possible scenario for van Gaal right now.

If you think that United are doomed for mediocrity this season you obviously have a lot of options to bet against the Red Devils or on the Dutch manager to get sacked. Disagree with us or have more arguments for Louis Van Gaal`s ‘destiny’ to fail? Comments are always open.

7. Bonus reason: David Moyes is unemployed