Louis van Gaal Reportedly Relaxes Manchester United Rules Amid Sacking Rumours

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has taken the decision to relax his management approach in an attempt to steer the club's season back on track following a meeting with some of the squad's senior stars.

According to the Daily Mail's Chris Wheeler, the Red Devils chief spoke privately with a group of players following the 2-1 defeat to Norwich City last Saturday and will take a different tack with the squad as a result.

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Wheeler reported Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Chris Smalling and Juan Mata met with Van Gaal prior to the Boxing Day trip to Stoke City, where the Dutchman's future at the club could hang in the balance.

United have lost their last three matches in succession and are without a win in six outings. The Manchester Evening News suggested the response of United's fans at the Britannia will influence Van Gaal's future at the helm:

Of course, the most important factor on Saturday is the result. A seventh game without a victory would result in further embarrassment for Van Gaal, who is hoping a less strict style of management will bear fruit.

Wheeler highlighted that Van Gaal "still has the support of the players," and this new tactic places more emphasis on the squad to ensure their self-discipline is sufficient enough to produce results. Stoke will be no easy destination to take points from, though, per the Mirror's Liam Canning:

That being said, the Potters have won just three of their eight home games in the league this season, losing four and drawing one, not to mention suffering a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace at the Britannia last time out.

Club captain Wayne Rooney has reiterated manager Van Gaal has the backing of his players, telling Sky Sports News HQ they will keep on fighting for the man in the manager's seat:

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You have a lot of people talking about things they believe are happening but in reality a lot of people who are writing that stuff don't actually know what's happening. We are working hard, we are fighting with the manager to try and get the results and turn this season around.

The last few results haven't been great for us and it's frustrating, and as a player it's hard to deal with so we have to be strong together and try and get the better results we need. Of course we haven't won games in the last few weeks and it's normal the confidence will be a bit lower. We need to try and lift it because we have tough games coming up. 

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It's true the players must be held accountable for their part in the club's recent demise, but Van Gaal has also come in for a lot of criticism this season due to his running of the club.

After being pushed into a desperate situation, it appears the former Bayern Munich boss is now willing to change his ways in what could be a last-ditch bid to improve his side's fortunes.

While Van Gaal's methods were good enough to guide the Netherlands to third place at the 2014 World Cup, not to mention winning titles in Spain (Barcelona), Germany (Bayern) and his native Holland (Ajax), no style is universal, it seems.

Playing with more freedom could be the key to finally freeing up a United team that's looked tight for too much of this campaign, but Saturday's trip to Stoke will tell if it's too little, too late.