Tuesday 24 May 2016 11:08, UK
Daley Blind says he is disappointed that Louis van Gaal was not given more time as Manchester United manager.
Van Gaal was sacked on Monday evening, just days after winning the club's first piece of silverware, the FA Cup, since Sir Alex Ferguson's reign ended in 2013.
Blind was signed by Van Gaal from Manchester United for £14m from Ajax in 2014, and believes his fellow Dutchman should have been given more time to embed his ideas at Old Trafford.
"I always worked well with him and would have been keen that the co-operation lasted longer," Blind told reporters at the Netherlands' training camp in Portugal.
"The manager of a top club in England is naturally under much more pressure, but over the last six months he has not been treated fairly. I think a manager like Louis van Gaal, who has achieved so much already, deserved more respect.
"Even though there was so much being written about him losing his job over the last months, he always looked to protect and shelter us. It is not easy for a coach if you are repeatedly being fired in the newspapers."
Manchester United are expected to appoint former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as their new manager, and Blind feels he will have to prove himself to the 53-year-old if he is to be in the first-team picture for United next season.
"If it is true that Jose Mourinho is coming, then it is also a manager who has achieved much," he said.
"I will have to show what I can do. Personally I can look back on a good season in which I played 57 matches plus a few internationals."
Blind's Manchester United and Netherlands team-mate Memphis Depay reckons his future at the club is safe despite Van Gaal's departure.
"I don't know why it wouldn't be. I am happy to be there and the management know I'm happy to be there," said the 22-year-old forward, who was left out of the FA Cup final squad after a disappointing first season in England.
"A love-hate relationship? I'm not sure about that. But him [Van Gaal] leaving is part of life in football and you learn from that and it makes you stronger."
