Louis van Gaal Comments on Manchester United Performance, Title Expectations

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has admitted he has failed in his role as coach after the club crashed out of the Champions League but reaffirmed he is still the man to take the Red Devils forward.

Jamie Jackson of the Guardian said LvG "accepted he was employed to win key matches such as those against Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven and had failed to do so." Jackson quoted the Dutchman before United's visit to Bournemouth in the Premier League, saying others need to judge whether he remains one of Europe's top coaches, but he is steadfast in his actions and conviction:

"

I don’t have any doubts [about his ability].

You can lose and you can win in sport, and you have to accept that, as a player and as a manager.

You have to judge [if he is still among the elite band of managers].

I have read already in the media that I am 64 and I am too old. I read the same things 20 years ago. I cannot change what is in your mind. I can only say the facts.

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Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

Van Gaal expressed his regret at United's exit from Europe's top club competition, but also laid the blame at the feet of his team, after they failed to accrue the points needed, per Jackson:

"

I think also we lost [qualifying for] the next stage in the home match against PSV. When I analyse that game, in the first half we missed so many chances. That was our problem. In the second I think they deserved to draw. If we finished the chances in the first half the game was finished. But when you say that I am hired to make the difference, you are right. I don’t think it is [completely] like that – I can make the difference, in tactics and everything. But I cannot score goals.

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JOHN MACDOUGALL/Getty Images

United currently lie only three points from the top of the Premier League and now have the chance to lead the race into the Christmas period, if Leicester City, Arsenal and Manchester City slip. 

Van Gaal also spoke about the difficultly in winning the domestic league, as teams from the bottom of the division continue to upset those at the top, per Jackson. LvG said he wants to "manage the expectations" of the club's global fanbase, and the club's past glories have no validity under his tenure:

"

They say a club like Manchester United has to win. That’s the past. You have to analyse the club now. Now we have much more clubs who have money … also the structure and are able to win something.

Next year, all the clubs in the Premier League have a bigger budget than most in Europe. That makes a big difference. Every club can also buy a player. You think Manchester United has a lot of money – that is true. But other clubs are asking for much more from us than from Bournemouth.

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JOHN MACDOUGALL/Getty Images

United supporters will be interested to learn the manager's thoughts on his current success rate, but there will be concerns that the team lacks ambition when it comes to scoring and entertainment. 

The club has built its reputation on excitement and romance, and the methodology under Van Gaal has become boring and tedious. 

If LvG fashions a title-winning charge in the second half of the season, he will be revered as an old-school genius, wrestling the championship for England's oil-laden clubs.

However, this eventuality appears a long way off for United fans, who have been treated to a cacophony of goalless draws this term.