Louis van Gaal newest: Wayne Rooney insists gamers are ‘preventing’ for

United players are right behind under-fire manager Louis van Gaal and are determined to get their season back on track, captain Wayne Rooney said.

“I think I was already reading I had been sacked”, he continued, referring to mounting speculation that Jose Mourinho, sacked by champions Chelsea last Thursday, was poised to replace him in the United hot seat.

“We all have families and sometimes there’s a lot of stuff that gets written which is not nice for your family to see”, Rooney said.

“That’s part of football”.

England’s record goalscorer reiterated the feeling of his manager that the confidence in the group is a bit low after the recent run of dismal performances. “I held meetings with the players with my members of staff, I hold a Christmas lunch, I did a speech and I feel the warmth and support of everybody in Carrington, at this training complex”, he said. Those two games in question are tricky assignments away to Stoke City and hosting an unpredictable Chelsea outfit. It’s tough for the players to deal with. “If we perform like the last week [against West Ham and Crystal Palace], but score the goals, then I think we can take the three points”. “It’s important we all stick together”.

United are aware that things can change very quickly over a few games and the board, having publicly backed the manager a few weeks ago, have now spoken to the manager in private and assured him that his place is safe, but that results need to improve immediately.

He added: “It’s not nice when you’re getting criticised every week, every game”.

“We are working hard and fighting for the manager to try to get results and turn the season around”.

Prickly exchanges with reporters have become commonplace for Van Gaal but he was not willing to entertain question for long as his pre-match media duties were cut short on Wednesday afternoon.

“That’s what all Man United teams in the past have done, and I would fully expect them to do it again this year”. “Obviously everyone is disappointed with the last few games but I’ve always said the team spirit we have is fantastic”, said Young, who recently returned to the first team after injury.

“When it’s not going right it’s frustrating”.

And yesterday in a media briefing ahead of the Boxing Day clash at Stoke, Van Gaal hit out at what he clearly believes is unfair treatment stating he had only turned up to talk to journalists because of Premier League rules.