The 64-year-old Dutchman was meant to be the antidote to the Scot, who was out of his depth after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson. He was the big, brash personality who would embrace the scale and stature of the club. A perfect fit.

He was a figure of world standing having just taken the Netherlands to third place in the World Cup in Brazil - but it soon became clear his best days were behind him.

Van Gaal's reign looks like it has ended with United's first trophy since Ferguson's retirement in 2013 as the FA Cup was won against Crystal Palace - but his departure was inevitable after a joyless, turgid season in which the run to Wembley was an exception not the rule.

The brief hope offered by a return to the top four and the Champions League after his first season was replaced by an exit from Europe's elite tournament at the group stage and a failure to reach the competition next season.

So how did an appointment that started with such hope and expectation end in disappointment and a tortuous journey to dismissal for a man regarded as one of the finest coaches of his generation?

Theatre of yawns

When Van Gaal admitted after a narrow FA Cup third-round win against Sheffield United at Old Trafford in January that he had been "very bored" during some games this season, how could be seriously expect supporters to be satisfied?

And what sort of message did it send out to United's owners the Glazers who, while detached, will have followed his every word? It could have been the opening line of a resignation speech. Hardly stuff fit for the 'theatre of dreams'.

It did not get much more exciting - and while Van Gaal's blunt honesty was welcome he often veered so wildly off message as to antagonise supporters, who did not want ice cold water thrown over their aspirations.

He suggested some were living in the past and said after the final Premier League game of the season, a 3-1 win against Bournemouth: "The fans are expecting a lot but I think these expectations are much too high."In PR terms the signals were all wrong - and Van Gaal was certainly not raising expectations on the pitch.

When United lost at home to Southampton on 23 January, it was the 11th consecutive home game in which they had failed to score in the first half.

Van Gaal's functional style of football, based on training-ground repetition aimed at defensive organisation and retaining possession, was accepted when he successfully fulfilled his first aim at United, namely to return the club to the Champions League.

He was afforded time and sympathy because there had to be a period of transition post-Moyes - but it went down like a lead balloon with United's fans when it became even more stodgy and dull in his second season.

They played more passes backwards, 3,222, than any other team in the Premier League and had a lowly 430 shots, including those blocked - a total that was only ahead of Stoke City, Norwich City, Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa.Van Gaal's overall Premier League win rate was 51.3% with 39 wins from 76 games, edging out the 50% ratio of his predecessor Moyes, who won 17 of his 34 games. It was a short ration of victories - although most are now set against Ferguson's remarkable 65.2%, winning 528 of his 810 games in charge.

United's fans - as Van Gaal perhaps unwisely reminded them - may be living in the past to expect the hell-for-leather attacking style of the Ferguson era, but they rightly expected better from a coach who graduated from the Dutch school of "totaalvoetbal".

In Ferguson's final title-winning season in 2012-13, United scored 86 league goals. This season they scored just 49, down from 62 last season, which was a reduction on the 64 scored in what was regarded as a dour campaign under Moyes.

(BBC)