Under-pressure Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal admitted that he did not know if he retained the backing of the club’s board after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke City.
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Dutchman Van Gaal has now overseen a seven-match winless run in which United have been eliminated from the Champions League and fallen out of the Premier League’s top four after successive defeats by Bournemouth, Norwich City and Stoke.
Van Gaal watched on as his side slumped to a 2-0 defeat at the Brittania stadium, and afterwards the former Netherlands boss admitted his future is up in the air.
“It’s more hard, people are looking at me, I have to deal with that, the players have to deal with that. I am able to deal with the pressure; the players still have to perform”.
“We have done everything we can do, I have seen a fantastic attitude of my players so I fully believe in this game”.
De Gea did well to prevent Ashley Young from turning a cross into his own net and make it 3-0 and it was Stoke who finished the stronger on another dark day for Van Gaal, who appears to be nearing the end of his time at Old Trafford.
When asked whether he thought he would be in charge for Monday’s Premier League game against Chelsea, Van Gaal offered only a meek response.
Wayne Rooney has been dropped by Manchester United for the trip to Stoke City.
Guus Hiddink’s first match in charge ended in a 2-2 draw at home to high-flying Watford after Oscar missed a second-half penalty that could have secured back-to-back wins.
In the prelude to the game, he spoke of a “United way” which demanded results with entertainment.
“The problem is we don’t dare to play, that is my analysis”.
Whether it proves to be the final nail in the coffin for Van Gaal himself remains to be seen.
The home crowd erupted in delight – and they were cheering again soon after when United threatened to pull one back.
Depay then forced Jack Butland into a low save with a 30-yard free-kick but the game would have been beyond United had Arnautovic not curled wide when one-on-one with De Gea having been put through by Bojan.
Van Gaal’s about-turn came at halftime when Rooney spent the break warming up before coming on to replace Depay.
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“We took our chances with two good finishes and we were terrific”, Hughes told the BBC. In the second half we were in a losing position and then you can give everything more easily.
