Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal knows his Old Trafford tenure is over

LOUIS VAN GAAL looked and sounded like a man who knows his time is up.

 

Louis van Gaal is staring into the abyss after Manchester United lost again at Stoke on Boxing Day

 

A couple of weeks ago the proud Dutchman admitted that if he felt he had lost "the chemistry" in the dressing room he would walk.

The day of reckoning has surely arrived. If United fail to halt their losing run against Chelsea at Old Trafford tonight he seems ready to jump before he is pushed.

Whatever the reasons for United's dramatic decline in recent weeks, Van Gaal knows something has to change because otherwise in this ultra-competitive Premier League season, England's most successful football club are in danger of finishing in mid-table - or worse.

 

The worry is that even a manager as accomplished as Jose Mourinho could struggle to get something out of these players at the moment, such is their collective lack of inspiration and confidence.

Quite how it has become this bad just a month after Untied topped the table is anyone's guess.

The statistics are piling up against Van Gaal: this is the first time United have lost four games in a row since 1961; it is the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson's winter of discontent in 1989-90 they have gone seven matches without a win; and they have the lowest number of points and goals after 18 games since the Premier League was launched.

 

But far more damning than the stats are the performances, with Van Gaal accusing his players on Saturday of not having the courage to play football or the mentality to cope with the mounting pressure and scrutiny.

United did improve in the second half but they couldn't have got any worse than the first 45 minutes when Stoke took a two-goal lead thanks to a calamitous mistake by Memphis Depay which led to Bojan's goal before a super strike from Marko Arnautovic.

It is not the first time they have been left chasing a game in this recent run. David De Gea's mistake gifted Bournemouth an early goal, losing possession in midfield cost them two breakaway goals against Norwich, while Wolfsburg capitalised on vulnerability at set-pieces.

 

Memphis Depay's awful attempted header to David de Gea gifted Stoke the lead

 

And they no longer seem to have the capability, physically or mentally, to turn games round. Had Marouane Fellaini not seen his close-range effort brilliantly saved by Jack Butland it might have been different. But all the old certainties have disappeared.

Van Gaal is trying desperately to find solutions. He has apparently relaxed some of his strict training and preparation rules; he dropped his captain Wayne Rooney for the first time - he had to bring him on at half-time - and he is constantly tinkering with personnel and players. But nothing is working.

Long-serving midfielder Michael Carrick attempted to sweep away the conspiracy theories by saying it was insulting to the players to suggest they are no longer playing for the manager.

 

"Listen, people talk about support [for the manager] but it is not like the lads go out and don't play," he said. "We go out there as professionals who are playing for this special club. We are in a privileged position. And it comes from within as well.

"I look at myself, at what I can do better as an individual. I have a lot of pride in myself and in my performances and it is a bit disrespectful when people say that the lads aren't trying for the manager. That hurts us a lot because that is not the type of people we are.

"We haven't won games and it is fair enough if people criticise things that have gone wrong on the pitch. But to say we are not trying for certain people is quite disrespectful and it hurts us a lot."

Struggling to pin-point a reason for the decline, he added: "It is just not good enough, individually or as a team. It is a horrible run and it is a horrible feeling. It hurts badly.

 

"We can't hide from it and we're not going to hide from it. We all need to be better. The only way we are going to change it is by winning games."

After adding United's scalp to those of Chelsea and Manchester City, Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross put the boot into his old club by saying: "We out-played them - it was comfortable." And it was.

The three most influential figures on United's board - Ed Woodward, David Gill and Ferguson - were not at the Britannia to see the latest sorry show. Nor were any members of the Glazer family, United's owners. As a show of solidarity for their beleaguered manager it spoke volumes.

But it now looks increasingly likely Van Gaal will spare them the task of firing him by offering his resignation.

STOKE (4-2-3-1): Butland 8; Johnson 6, Shawcross 7, Wollschied 7, Peters 6; Whelan 5 (Van Ginkel 46, 5), Cameron 6 (Adam 74, 5); Shaqiri 7 (Diouf 64, 5), Afellay 6, Arnautovic 8; Bojan 9. Booked: Bojan. Goals: Bojan 19, Arnautovic 26. NEXT UP: Everton (a) PL, Monday.

MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; Young 4, Jones 5, Smalling 6, Blind 5; Carrick 6, Herrera 5 (Perreira 82); Depay 4 (Rooney 46, 6), Fellaini 5, Mata 5; Martial 5. Booked: Young, Perreira. NEXT UP: Chelsea (h) PL Monday.

Referee: K. Friend (Leics).