Ronald De Boer believes Manchester United could have treated Louis van Gaal with a little more respect.

The Dutchman was sacked by the club on Monday despite guiding them to the FA Cup on Saturday and even though it probably made sense from a business viewpoint, De Boer suggests the famous club may have handled the situation more professionally.

"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," said the former Ajax star who was managed by van Gaal at both the Amsterdam giants and Barcelona.

"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."