Does Louis van Gaal have a grip on Manchester United — Sunday cover

“Yes – I have seen the reaction of the players to me afterwards”, he said. But that only works if they feel Van Gaal has the full support of the players. That can be done when you stick together, not only the players, the manager and his staff but also the fans, because that is very important.

I have to say I like the attitude of the fans because, after the 2-0 scoreline, they stood behind the players and they were supporting the team, which is the most important thing and I was pleased with that.

“Something has to change at United because they have been poor all season and Mourinho would be the flawless fit after his departure from Chelsea, which I think we all saw coming”.

“We need to win as soon as possible”. We have lost three matches in a row and their belief has been tested.

Under-fire Louis van Gaal has demanded his Manchester United side show professionalism to pull themselves out of their current malaise.

He also believes he still has the support of club owners the Glazer family and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, although Van Gaal has not received a public vote of confidence.

It isn’t expected to get any easier for them when they take on Stoke City on Boxing Day, as they have now fallen out of the top four places in the Premier League and are nine points adrift of league leaders Leicester.

It was the game that made qualification for the Champions League mathematically impossible.

But the Frenchman’s strike wasn’t enough to deny Norwich their first victory at Old Trafford since 1989 while inflicting the Reds a first home league defeat of the season.

“That is his philosophy and that is what the Manchester United board and ownership invested in when they brought him in”.

United are already out of the Champions League, having failed to navigate their way out of arguably the easiest group in the competition.

The next 24 hours could prove critical to Van Gaal remaining until the weekend.

United, who are fifth in the table, travel to take on 11th-placed Stoke City on Saturday.

“Yes, of course I am anxious about my job”, Van Gaal told a post-match press conference.

“I’m not seeing that with Manchester United at the moment and that’s the really disappointing thing”.

“I am always evaluating myself because I think that is an aspect of the philosophy I have”. We did that this season until now.