Manchester United have denied Louis van Gaal offered to resign following Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to Southampton – with reports on Tuesday suggesting his position at the club won’t be reviewed until the summer.
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After returning to the Netherlands on Sunday in order to discuss his future with his wife, Van Gaal will have a meeting with Woodward later today in order to officially confirm if he’ll be departing from the club.
All eyes will now fall on United’s next move in the coming days, with Van Gaal refusing to be drawn on whether he expected to still be in charge for next Friday’s FA Cup fourth round clash against Derby.
The Red Devils have now suffered six defeats in the Premier League so far this season, including losses to lowly Swansea City, Norwich and Bournemouth, and many feel the Dutchman is lucky to have survived this long. According to reports, he was nearly fired after Christmas, but three wins – notably a 1-0 victory and Liverpool – and a tie at the beginning of the year eased the pressure on the 64-year-old Van Gaal. “They have, or they had, great expectations of me, and I can not fulfil them, so I am very frustrated”.
Through it all, the club’s hierarchy has remained silent about the setbacks, supporters’ discontent and increasingly embattled manager Louis van Gaal.
“We couldn’t break Southampton down today, they played a very solid five and we found it very hard, but we need to learn from this”.
United lost for the eighth time this season thanks to Charlie Austin’s late goal for the visitors, which left them 10 points behind leaders Leicester. It’s another tough moment, for you and for us, but we must get through this.
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Inevitably, beleaguered boss Van Gaal was also subjected to renewed derision from disgruntled fans who have given the Dutchman plenty of abuse for his conservative tactics over the last few months. They have failed to score in the first half of a game since September – and only twice all season.
