Manchester United young stars could be in danger when Jose Mourinho takes charge at Old Trafford, claims Ronald de Boer
* Louis van Gaal was sacked as Manchester United manager on Monday
* Jose Mourinho is on the brink of being named his replacement this week
* Ronald de Boer has accused United of being 'disrespectful' to Van Gaal
* De Boer, who played for Van Gaal at Barcelona, fears for club's youngsters
Ronald de Boer has accused Manchester United of being 'disrespectful' to Louis van Gaal and fears the club's academy prospects are at risk of being pushed out of the first-team picture under Jose Mourinho.
That latter concern is even extended to the likes of Marcus Rashford, who has been a revelation since his introduction to the first team under Van Gaal.
Despite the 18-year-old's success, De Boer, who played under Van Gaal at Barcelona when Mourinho was his assistant, fears he could yet suffer for Mourinho's imminent appointment given his preference for established stars.
Marcus Rashford was given first-team chance by Van Gaal but De Boer feels he may struggle under Mourinho
De Boer said: 'Mourinho is a manager who goes straight for "arrived" players, experienced players, who can directly fulfil that job. For some young players that will be not so good.
'Rashford now showed he will get a chance and he is with the national team. He will get a chance for sure. But maybe Mourinho will think, "OK, Rashford, nice, but I need an experienced one also with him". And then the experienced one will play and Rashford won't play.
'That will be critical, of course, for his career, and he must make it so difficult not to drop him. For some youngsters, it will be interesting.'
De Boer, who has been in contact with Van Gaal's family since the veteran was sacked, added: 'Mourinho is very good. He can shape a team and go straight for results. He is like Van Gaal, a workaholic and prepares perfectly and knows how to win. Sometimes it is not pretty but he knows how to grind out wins. That is what you get.
'The only thing I worry about is can it have an effect on the academy players? People love to see their own youth coming up and being the local hero. And that is the risk when you take Mourinho.'
Despite his belief that Van Gaal was struggling at United, De Boer, who won the Champions League under the Dutchman with Ajax in 1995, hit out at the Old Trafford club over the manner in which the 64-year-old was sacked.
De Boer, who was at Wembley on Tuesday to promote Liverpool's International Champions Cup fixture with Barcelona on August 6, said: 'From a company point of view I can understand it. From a human point of view it is bad after winning the FA Cup you hear you get fired. It is not the way you should do it but football teams are big money companies.
'It is not the (best way to) tell a manager with quite a decent history. He deserves more respect in that sense. It is not the nice way to finish your career.
'Everyone saw it coming. You know if you are coaching one of the biggest clubs in the world you get a lot of stick if it doesn't go well. He didn't really get it going and he knows that also.
'I think he felt it coming of course but you always hope that you have an understanding with the board and that I think was the most disappointing thing. He still thought he had the backing of the board probably and that is why it came quite hard with him.'
De Boer spoke to Van Gaal's wife Truus on Sunday and revealed they had their bags packed a day ahead of his formal sacking.
He said: 'I sent her a message, "Did you pack your bags already?" and she said "Yes". It was on Sunday I think.
'I didn't go into detail. I asked her, 'Is Louis disappointed?' and she said, 'He is very disappointed'. But that's normal. He is a winner. He wanted to finish his job.'
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