United fans are the best, says under-fire Van Gaal

The Red Devils’ struggles this season have been well-documented, with Louis van Gaal finding himself under intense pressure in recent weeks following a run of eight games in all competitions without a win.

“We still have a good team and we can still score goals”. I believe in trust and in confidence.

Unsurprisingly, the media have linked United to a host of names and it was recently claimed that van Gaal has his eyes set on securing the services of Real Madrid star James Rodriguez. Maybe that is wrong, okay, but I have done it all my life as a manager.

And while Van Gaal was not talking about his pressure, he was talking about the job being his last.

After a dour 0-0 draw against PSV and a stalemate against Leicester, United began the month with a goalless encounter against West Ham.

“But still we need to win because at the end of the season, we want to be at the top of the league and not in the middle”.

Swansea, who have already fired manager Garry Monk and are now under caretaker Alan Curtis, have been a bogey team for the triple European champions although the Welsh club have only one away league victory this season.

It remains to be seen how long Van Gaal remains in his position, but Nicholas is adamant that he has to give more freedom to his players in the final third in order to bring back success.

Manchester United will look to address their worrying run of form when they entertain Swansea at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. “But we also need a little bit of luck”.

“We have stopped it at one end with three clean sheets on the trot, but obviously we have to score goals and improve that department”.

Van Gaal sold Robin van Persie to Fenerbahce last summer and Javier Hernandez to Bayer Leverkusen, where the Mexican worldwide has been scoring goals for fun, including seven in his last five games. “The way we played under that pressure was fantastic”.

Explaining his year-end thoughts at a press conference, the boss commented, “We have fulfilled the wish and our aim in the first season (2014/15) that ended halfway through 2015”. The players are feeling like that also. They want to win because we didn’t win several matches in a row, ‘ he added.

Van Gaal has been linked with a number of forwards, including Sadio Mane, Edinson Cavani and Yoshinori Muto, but the 64-year-old was reluctant to say he would spend big on a forward in the window.

‘Nothing has changed. You can create something but nothing has changed, ‘ insisted the manager.