Van Gaal could quit United; Hiddink draws 1st Chelsea game

Louis van Gaal raised the prospect of quitting as Manchester United manager after a fourth straight loss was inflicted by Stoke, which won their Premier League encounter 2-0 on Saturday.

He will replace Louis Van Gaal should the Manchester United board dismiss the Dutch tactician or he (Van Gaal) leaves at the end of his contract with the club (Manchester United). I look at myself first of all, see what I can do better.

Van Gaal is under intense pressure amid widespread speculation over his future and intimated he could resign following the defeat at the Britannia Stadium.

Van Gaal was rooted to his dugout seat throughout the 90 minutes and looked a shell-shocked figure as he walked away at the final whistle, pausing briefly to wave to the travelling supporters.

“He’s an experienced manager and you have to make these calls but it went against him today and I think it was the wrong move”.

“And I have to deal with that, but much more important is that the players have to deal with that because they have to perform”.

“I have analysed that as a effect of the pressure that you have to cope with as a group as an individual player”.

“You can say we can quickly get over this defeat by playing against Chelsea but, in the time in between, you have to recover because the players have given everything”, he told MUTV.

“I try to do everything but the pressure shall be every match higher and higher and we have to solve that problem”, said Van Gaal, who has been in charge since July 2014.

His assistant manager and United legend Ryan Giggs might be in pole position to succeed Van Gaal in the short term, but sacked Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is being lined up, according to The Sun.

Van Gaal’s comments and demeanour suggest his stay at Old Trafford is reaching an endgame after barely 18 months in charge.

On the game itself, he added: “My thoughts are that we don’t dare to play football in the first half and then we gave a very bad goal away”.

It was no surprise that Van Gaal acted at halftime by bringing on Rooney for the ineffective Depay.

Manchester City, in third place, crushed lowly Sunderland 4-1 but suffered a blow when captain Vincent Kompany limped off with a calf injury, having come on as a substitute following an eight-match absence.

A day after British astronaut Tim Peake displayed a Stoke flag on the International Space Station, the central England team was in a different orbit to United in the first half.