Van Gaal: Wenger Is Right, 4th Is A Trophy

Ahead of Arsenal's trip to Old Trafford to face Louis van Gaal's men the Manchester United boss has echoed a much lampooned sentiment from his opposite number in suggesting a Champions League place finish is equal to a trophy.

Like Arsène Wenger in 2012 Van Gaal did not use the words "fourth place is a trophy" as rival supporters and malcontent Gooners have misquoted to ridicule The Gunners' longest serving and most successful manager. Instead, the Devil's manager said this:

I want to get always the goals that we have set. And the goals that we have set is the first four. And a title is fantastic. What is important for the club when you win the FA Cup you are not in the Champions League but you have won the title. A title. So, for the players, it is fantastic, for the manager, it is fantastic, but our goal is to reach in our first year together a place in the Champions League.

It is pretty evident his priority is to get United into the Champions League. There are financial ramifications for missing out on the Champions League for a second season aside from the loss of TV money. It has been widely reported that United's critically acclaimed record shirt sponsorship deal has Champions League qualification caveats. Missing out on the Champions League for a second season could be catastrophic for United because the longer you are out the harder it becomes to get back in.

Manchester United are one of the world's premier teams and an attractive prospect to many players, even with a season or so out of the Champions League, but it has to be noted that attracting players becomes more difficult the longer you are out of the Champions League. There are plenty of other attractive teams for top tier players to choose from who are in the Champions League and United's lustre will not last long away from the bright lights of modern football's biggest club competition.

Arsène Wenger knew that Champions League qualification was not only important for Arsenal's balance sheet in the wake of the move to Emirates Stadium but also for retaining and attracting players. In a recent interview with Martin Keown for the BBC he revealed that his fiscal target was a minimum of 3 years out of 5 in the Champions League to service Arsenal's debts and set them up for the future.

In 2012 when quizzed on the club's ambition Wenger stated he believed there to be 5 "trophies" to be had at the start of the season - the four major pieces of silverware and a top four finish. Wenger has been fleered and upbraided for this statement as many took his use of the word trophy quite literally. Had Wenger instead said "targets" he would not have been so relentlessly mocked. A fair-minded person without an agenda for hits or advancement of a personal belief would have taken his comments as intended - Arsenal's minimum objective is to maintain their position as a Champions League competitor. Sadly, the regular achievement of our minimum objective has led some to believe it is the sum of our ambition rather than praise it for the accomplishment it is.

Van Gaal was asked to comment on Wenger's 2012 media address and had this to say:

Yes, I think that he is right. I think that Arsène Wenger is saying always the right things. I think that for a club the Champions League is the highest level and that's why he is saying that. And to finish in the first four, it's a fantastic result, I think, and for us, Manchester United, more I think.

The United boss recognised the importance of finishing in the top four and even implied that it would be an achievement for his team to finish in the top four. It's interesting because for Wenger it was always the minimum standard at Arsenal whereas at United - after a year out of it - it seems to be considered a dream finish.

It could even be inferred that the Manchester United management considers the FA Cup a nice but inconvenient distraction to their primordial aim of getting back into the Champions League. With Tottenham and Liverpool then Manchester City and Chelsea either side of a match against a Villa side fighting for their survival and the race for 3rd and 4th so tight Van Gaal may even see keeping his players fit for the league run in as a higher priority than beating Arsenal in the cup.

Jonny Evans has been banned for spitting and will miss the Arsenal match and all five of the aforementioned league matches making the task of picking up crucial points all the harder. Van Gaal may not feel he has the squad to do both but Arsenal certainly do.

The FA Cup is a very real trophy for Arsenal and one they will not want to let go of as holders. Arsenal's league run in is slightly more favourable than most of their rivals but they too will want to be in possession of the "5th trophy" come May.

This quarter final is going to be an interesting one as much more than usual rests upon it and should Arsenal prevail it will be all the more interesting to see how the world reacts to Van Gaal's comments if they have no physical silverware to win.

Will he be as contemptuously roasted as Wenger was and still is over his top four assertions? I doubt it.

Quotes courtesy of The Telegraph

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