I Don’t Need Public Backing- Louis van Gaal

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says the club do not need to clarify his position when he was asked if the club should declare their backing publicly for him. He said: “I do not agree they need to make a statement. I've said it many times that a lot of the media is inventing stories and you don't have to respond to invented stories”.

It is understood that United remain happy with their manager and Van Gaal says his relationship with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is so strong he couldn't imagine his employers had courted Mourinho. Asked if his fate rested on securing a top-four spot or qualifying for Europe's top-tier competition via the Europa League, Van Gaal added: "It's not a question for me, it's a question for the board of Manchester United, you have to put it to them. I have a contract for three years and you know that”.

On the mood in the squad, Van Gaal said “I have to say that we are doing great in that perspective. We have lost in December four matches in a row and when you see us playing now you can only say that we care, we are mentally very strong and we can cope with the pressure. But that is not enough we have to improve our results in consistency and win a lot of matches in a row. We have to reduce the gap with our competitors. When you see our results in 2016, when we have that whole season, we are the champions. We have to show it every week now because of the fact that the gap is so big”.