Louis van Gaal has told The Athletic by email that he feels robbed by Manchester City, who have been found guilty of breaching 114 financial rules between 2009 and 2018 and face an enormous punishment.
After a successful 2014 World Cup with the Netherlands, Van Gaal took charge of Manchester United. United finished fourth in his first season and won the FA Cup in his second. It wasn't enough to save his job. The club sacked the Amsterdam native less than 24 hours after the cup win.
Manchester United finished outside the Premier League's top four in painful fashion. Van Gaal's side had 66 points, the same as fourth-placed Manchester City, but City took the final Champions League place on goal difference. United scored just 49 league goals that season.
In his place came José Mourinho. On the Champions League near miss, Van Gaal said: "For me, that (missing out on the Champions League in 2016, ed.) was probably the decisive factor in my dismissal by Manchester United at the time, with all the consequences and suffering that followed."
Van Gaal has previously described missing out on the Champions League in 2016 as 'one of the worst experiences of his professional life'. His good relationship with the managing director ended when he accused the executive of arranging Mourinho's arrival long before his dismissal.
Whatever the ruling on City, Van Gaal knows it will no longer make any difference to him. "I cannot turn back history now. Even the English Football Association cannot do that," writes Van Gaal, who does not want to specify what he considers an appropriate punishment for City. "Ultimately, the judge will have to decide that."