Louis van Gaal urges Manchester United response against Chelsea

Van Gaal’s grim post-match press conference was evidence to the fact that he was under intense pressure to hold on to his job at the club.

“It is not always the club that has to fire or sack me. I am the one who wants to speak first with the board of Manchester United and with my members of staff and players – and not with you”.

The Red Devils suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat to Stoke on Boxing Day – a result that has heaped pressure on Van Gaal.

“It’s hard because I am part of the four matches that we lost so people are looking at me”.

And even though most of the the 2,557 United supporters who had made the trip down the M6 clapped the players off at the final whistle, Van Gaal did not seem to have much fight in him when he addressed the media shortly after.

The Blues face a United side who are on a terrible run of four straight defeats, their worst sequence of form in one season since 1961.

Van Gaal could be preparing to take charge of United for the last time as a fifth consecutive defeat could see him leave Old Trafford. “I am not so interested in public talking”.

Louis Van Gaal is on the verge of leaving Manchester United, after losing the support of players and fans, according to Charlie Wyett of The Sun.

“At half-time, I said to my players we have nothing to lose, and then you can cope better with that in the second half”.

But Van Gaal has called on his side to return to their winning ways against Chelsea and believes United must stand by the principles the former Barcelona manager has implemented at Old Trafford.

We have a big game against Manchester United and have to go there to try to win the game. It can turn around quickly and if we get a good win then the feeling comes back.

Is van Gaal to blame alone? United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward was not at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday, though his absence was said to have been planned.

Manchester United on the other hand have endured a torrid time under Louis Van Gaal this season.

“You don’t understand my message”, he said.

“We need a victory and that’s very important”. Stoke certainly did. “You have to be courageous and confident in these situations, and we were”, manager Mark Hughes said.

“We didn’t play our football because of the pressure and we would not cope with the circumstances either as a group or individual players, he said”.