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Five reasons why we should, as Louis van Gaal so eloquently puts it, ‘pay attention to the manager’.

It’s been just over a year since the pain also known as David Moyes left United, and yet aspiring to be City couldn’t be further from anyone’s minds (especially because aspiring to be a team you’ve beaten 4-2 seems even more ridiculous). A large part of this is due to the man from Oranje, whose philosophising and drunken antics have largely erased the ink blots of his predecessor.

A lot of post-season will unnecessarily, but nevertheless, be spent in reflection on whether 2014/15 was a success for Manchester United, and whether van Gaal has done a good job. In honour of this mass hysteria, here are five reasons why I think our man with the (self professed) Golden Balls has not only succeeded, but has to stay at the very least until the end of his contract.

He’s entertaining. A part of Sir Alex that many people seem to forget is how much of a character he was. The incomprehensible Scottish brogue, ‘squeaky bum time’ catchphrases and love affair with watches all made him someone impossible to ignore, the way most people could tune out Moyes. Van Gaal is someone in the same mould. There’s never a dull moment: someone who dares to slap Ryan Giggs rarely has any. His quotes include the tribute-like ‘twitchy ass’, ‘Queens Park Raisins’ and the childish delight of ‘we have only one player injured…can you believe that?’ My personal favourite is when he interrupted Gary Neville on live TV to congratulate ‘his team’ after the Liverpool win, demonstrating both his…quirkiness, and commitment to the club. And of course, his plaudit winning end of season awards speech should have had an entirely new Oscar category for it.

He’s got balls. How many managers you know would bench the most expensive players if he felt they weren’t performing? And how many managers would have a penalty kick system so rigid that even the most preeminent choices would be dropped if they didn’t deliver? Whatever else can be said about him, Louis van Gaal is a man unafraid of sticking to his own mind and choices. His philosophy is the stuff of legend. Stubbornness has its drawbacks, and for a while I was afraid van Gaal would be too stubborn and refuse to adapt, but he managed to prove me wrong. It took a while for him to realise just how useless 3-5-2 was, but once he got that down, he was smart enough to make the transition of ‘philosophy’ go almost unnoticed. We ended up with a few good runs and van Gaal ended up with his stubbornness still intact. It’s a refreshing change from the dithering Moyes who seemed to go with whoever was the loudest counsel at the time.

(One thing I’ll add, however, is that the drawback to this that he still hasn’t fixed is his incomprehensible need to play players in the wrong positions. Hopefully that will be fixed by next season – we don’t need to see another woeful Rooney display from midfield.)

He delivers. No one’s going to forget 3-0 / 2-1 Liverpool, 4-2 City, or 3-0 a Harry Kane-led Spurs in a hurry. These were exceptional results topped with a cherry – the revitalising of players previously considered surplus, namely Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini. Van Gaal has to take credit for these remarkable turnarounds (even though the same, sadly, cannot be said about Jonny Evans). He promised he would get us into fourth place, and that he has done entirely. There were even a couple of scrappy, last-minute win games reminiscent of the Ferguson era. Of course there’ve been let-downs (games against Leicester and Everton that will go unmentioned). But there are shocks and disappointments every season, and I think the sentiment is admirably summed up in this MUFC facebook post.

He doesn’t settle. The difference between us and Arsenal is this: fourth place is not a trophy. The fans know that, the players know that, and he knows that. There were some accusations of ‘overcelebrating’ (remind you of any point of the season?) but people associated with United know far better – absolutely no one is satisfied. The aim of fourth place was Champions League qualification, and a setting-back onto the path of proper glory. Van Gaal’s real aim is to win the league, as well as other things, during his time here. And you can be sure we’ll be listening to an English version of the victory speech very soon.

We have to. Manchester United are a club known for its two longest-serving managers. Granted, the in-between years are not a similar story, but between them Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson handled an astonishing 50 of United’s 112 years (137 if you count Newton Heath). Even the shorter-term managers are long staying compared to the lifespan of many a Premier League chief. To sack van Gaal for no brazenly clear reason, and coming on the tail of an already mishandled discharge, would be ridiculous. Even if you don’t like van Gaal, he’s been more than adequate. Who knows what next season might bring? Take the words of Sir Alex to heart: your job is to stand by your new manager. The manager will do his job – we will do ours.