Louis Van Gaal Must Tone Down the Rhetoric If He Wants to Remain Respected

Upon his arrival in England, it became rapidly apparent that Louis van Gaal was in no way overawed by the task of being Manchester United manager.

Despite the ill-fated tenure of David Moyes, expectations at Old Trafford were still exceptionally high. It took a bold, headstrong manager to declare that the team would need three months to even begin to adapt to his methods.

Combined with his venerable managerial record, the Dutchman commanded respect immediately.

Toward the end of his specified period, Van Gaal branded his own comment "stupid," per BBC Sport. It's unlikely to be the only time that he's forced to eat his words while in the United hotseat.

While United have picked up somewhat since then, they find themselves heading into the final stretch of the season managing to get results despite turgid performances. They went out of the FA Cup with a whimper, and Tottenham, Southampton and a resurgent Liverpool are breathing down their neck in the league. Even with Van Gaal's considerable experience, there are hints that he's feeling the pressure.

Moyes' time in charge served as ample demonstration that the club's ageing squad desperately needed investment to compete with Manchester City and Chelsea, and Van Gaal was afforded almost limitless funds in the attempt to bring his vision for the club to life.

It's fair to say that had Moyes made the same deals, he would have been on the receiving of much more flak.

Radamel Falcao, the league's top earning player, has been an almost unmitigated disaster; Angel Di Maria, who cost just shy of £60 million, began brightly but has recently turned in several woeful performances, culminating in his embarrassing sending off against Arsenal.

Tactically, United fans are entitled to have expected a bit better from Van Gaal, too. The club has reverted to the long ball with increasing regularity, and their fulcrum has not been any of Van Gaal's marquee signings, but one of Moyes': Marouane Fellaini.

And yet despite all of this, the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss has been afforded patience and understanding. However, his comments in the last couple of weeks must have even the most devoted followers of his philosophies questioning whether he does have complete control of the situation.

Two separate incidents stick out as particularly emblematic of this trend.

While it's perfectly natural for a manager to bend the truth slightly in order to protect his players, Van Gaal's repeated refusals to admit Jonny Evans' guilt in the recent spitting incident with Papiss Cisse were as feeble as they were convoluted.

The suggestion that the manager was perhaps attempting to screen his player from criticism by making himself a target does have some merit, but a man of Van Gaal's experience must know that when it comes to keeping the media on side, picking your battles is paramount. All his protestations have served to do is undermine his credibility.

The second set of comments concerned United's lack of firepower. Despite bringing in Falcao and having Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in the squad, Van Gaal has declared that United's single biggest impediment to success this season has been the lack of a 20-goal per season striker, per BBC Sport.

It's hard to construe this claim in any way which holds weight. Rooney has bettered the total four times while at United, twice scoring 34 and twice hitting one less than his manager's watermark. Van Persie has also surpassed the 20-goal mark four times in English football, and Falcao has done so in both Portugal and Spain.

Van Gaal did include the caveat that United lack a sufficiently prolific striker "at the moment," and with Van Persie and Falcao both lacking form, it's not without some truth. However, his style has forced both strikers to generally play with their backs to goal, massively inhibiting their striking prowess.

Rooney is an entirely different story. He has spent the majority of the season dropped into a deeper midfield role and has still managed 11 goals in 24 appearances. Given a proper chance in his favoured position, he'd almost certainly be on course to meet Van Gaal's target number.

Both of these comments have the feel of a manager desperately making excuses in an effort to cling on to his job. The fact that his job security is in no way in this much jeopardy just makes his recent demeanour all the more difficult to understand. It's a stark contrast to the self-assured, sanguine Van Gaal of less than 12 months ago.