Man U’s Louis van Gaal the latest manager feeling pressure

Louis van Gaal conceded his Manchester United flops are lacking in confidence after slamming their performance in a shock 2-1 defeat against Norwich.

Norwich did fire a warning when midfielder Tettey easily sidestepped a Chris Smalling challenge before rolling a tame shot wide.

And while questioning what he could lose at this stage of his career, Van Gaal did say: “If I lose the confidence of the fans, that for me would be very sad”.

If Pep Guardiola wants to leave Bayern Munich and head to the Premier League, as most believe is the case, he could barely dream of a better negotiating position, with Manchester City, United and Chelsea all looking for a magic manager to step in. “I am, or I have to say now I was, a very successful manager”.

Speaking in his post-match presser, Van Gaal admitted that he is under pressure because of the recent poor run of form. “I can not close my eyes to that”.

“[Pressure?] That’s the football world”.

Anthony Martial slammed home for United 10 minutes later, but with assistant manager Ryan Giggs encouraging his players from the touchline while Van Gaal sat impassively in the dug-out, the hosts failed to find an equaliser.

Mourinho left Chelsea on Thursday after Roman Abramovich finally felt compelled to act after a disastrous start to their title defence and has indicated a desire to get straight back into management.

There have been reports of unrest within the United camp over results and the style the team are playing under Van Gaal. “I just think, ‘Where’s he going to go?’ and the only place he can go is England”. However we showed there is no reason why we can not win games. Norwich’s first win at Old Trafford since a famous 1989 victory was the latest blow to a United side who’ve been eliminated from the Champions League and have now slipped out of the Premier League’s top four.

‘I am also evaluating myself as well as the players. Of course we have to evaluate what we have done today and how we have prepared for this match and so on.

That was the signal for Van Gaal’s team to increase the pressure in the game’s final quarter, but a big chance for an equaliser came and went as Young’s low right-wing ball rolled across goal, with Rooney unable to stretch to get a touch.