Meanwhile, the combination of Marko Arnautovic and Memphis Depay’s poor defensive header left United defeated to Stoke.
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Van Gaal is concerned about the short gap between the Stoke game and the match against the Blues, who themselves have endured a torrid season which culminated in the replacement of Jose Mourinho by Guus Hiddink. However, Butland was able to clear the ball out of danger.
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Tottenham remained fourth after a 3-0 victory over Norwich engineered by Harry Kane’s double – the first from the penalty spot – and Tom Carroll’s strike.
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Van Gaal must decide whether to restore captain Wayne Rooney to his side for the Chelsea game, who began the game at Stoke on the substitutes bench.
Mourinho was initially linked with the United job when Ferguson retired in 2013, and Bosnich believes it was a mistake not appointing him then and it would be another mistake not appointing him now. When the Reds had possession, they did very little with it; which made the Stoke City fans chant “boring, boring, boring”.
“We were on the front foot from the start and had the same intensity in our play we showed against Manchester City”.
It got even worse for United when Bojan’s free kick was blocked and with no defender closing down Arnautovic he thundered a shot past De Gea.
On top of that, the Dutchman – appointed in July 2014 – failed to give a convincing answer when asked whether he would still be in charge for United’s next game against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday.
Van Gaal lamented his players’ inability to handle the pressure, and partly blamed the windy conditions at Stoke.
Van Gaal appeared to have an element of resignation about him as he conducted his post-match TV interview at the Britannia Stadium.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes has questioned whether some of Manchester United’s players have the right mentality to turn things around at his former club. I try to do everything but the pressure in every match is higher and higher. “That is the problem now” (Sky Sports).
Asked if he felt he still had the support of the United board, Van Gaal said: “You will have to wait and see, but I think so”.
“That is also something what I don’t have to say but I have said already in former press conferences that it is not always like that the club has to fire or sack me”.
He added: “For me I look at myself and say that I can do better”.
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Manchester United against Chelsea has often been a seminal fixture in deciding the destiny of the Premier League title in recent years but tomorrow’s clash at Old Trafford has a very different backdrop.
