Louis van Gaal has admitted that the derby with Manchester City on Sunday is of critical importance for the club’s Champions League qualification hopes, yet the Dutchman is confident he will be Manchester United’s manager next season irrespective of whether a top-four finish is achieved.
United were knocked out of the Europa League by Liverpool on Thursday, leaving the FA Cup as their only hope of winning silverware this term. Van Gaal’s side are sixth in the league, four points behind Manchester City in the final Champions League berth. Asked if winning the 171st derby, at the Etihad Stadium, was do-or-die for United’s chances of a top‑four finish, Van Gaal said: “I think so. We are now four points behind so you have to win otherwise the gap is bigger and bigger and the [number of] matches that you have to play are not so big.
“If we lose, the gap is seven points and we have to play eight matches – then it’s very difficult to recover from that. It is still possible but it’s difficult then because West Ham United are also in front [by two points]. So it is not only City but West Ham United.”
Van Gaal feels that the result on Thursday evening will have little impact this weekend. “Do you think that every game is the same game?” the Dutchman said. “No, because that I have said also before this game. This [draw with Liverpool] was also a very different game than the Liverpool-Manchester United game [at Anfield]. Every game is different with different players and a different referee and different circumstances.”
Would beating City represent a psychological blow to their rivals? “That you have to ask Mr Pellegrini and the players of Manchester City, I don’t interfere with that,” said Van Gaal, who also refused to discuss his future should United fail to finish in the top four. “I don’t discuss that with you,” he said.
“Why do I have to discuss that with you? So every day when we are losing or we are out of the Europa League or another league then you put the question. But why? I have a three-year contract and the process is three years.”
Van Gaal did agree that the target of finishing at least third this term was unlikely to be met. “Our aim was to finish in the top three because we want to do it better than last year,” he said. “So not doing that would be below expectations. But then you have to analyse I think. You don’t have to agree with me, but you have to analyse the circumstances. How I have to work.
“But you can fill in because I have said that in all my press conferences and I don’t repeat myself any more. You are repeating by always asking me the same question when I am losing or I’m out of Europe.”
Van Gaal may be asked about his future repeatedly as United appear to be regressing. “I don’t think so,” the Dutchman said. “I’m never feeling under pressure. I do what I have to do.”
United’s manager was unsure whether Ander Herrera, who has an unspecified injury, would be fit for Sunday. “I don’t know,” he said. “Wednesday he trained with me and he was not injured.”
