Van Gaal to ‘wait and see’ on his Manchester United future

“Be there for Chelsea?”.

“You have to wait and see, but I think so”, he added. “But I think so”.

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.

If LVG is sacked, there are insinuations that former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be stepping into his shoes. “Sometimes I do it by myself”, he said.

The media have spent the past week speculating on the Iron Tulip’s future to such an extent that Van Gaal himself suggested that he was owed an apology at his press conference during the week.

“It’s very hard because we have to recover, we start after we travel (back from Stoke) and we have to prepare also the game, it’s very tough to do that”, Van Gaal said.

However, he refused to take the blame for his players’ struggles when the heat is on, saying: “Of course I do my utmost to find solutions to cope with the pressure”.

“No because I can also quit by myself”.

“Everywhere he has gone during his career he has won trophies and if you speak to the majority of Manchester United fans, they just want to get back to the glory days where they are in the hunt for the major trophies”. How much longer does he feel he has to turn things around? An increasingly careworn Van Gaal knows that perfectly well.

“It is not always that the club has to fire or sack me”.

Manchester United, which has now lost four games in a row, is scheduled to play Chelsea next on Monday. “I am not so interested in public talking”.

Van Gaal oversaw training in Manchester on Sunday and could be boosted in Monday’s key clash by the return of German star midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger who has missed three games through suspension.

The England worldwide later came on at half-time for a disappointing Memphis Depay, but couldn’t spark the team in the second half.

It is United’s worst run of results since an eight-game winless streak between December 1989 and January 1990, which could cost Van Gaal his job 18 months after his appointment as the successor to David Moyes.

As usual, on the United bench there was little outgoing evidence of concern, with neither Van Gaal nor assistant Ryan Giggs springing out of their seats to berate or inspire their team. That may well now change.

“We’re playing for this great club”. What more can I say? In the second half we were in a losing position and then you can give everything more easily.