Louis Van Gaal and Manchester United lost 1-0 to Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday and the home fans, not for the first time this season, were not happy.
Charlie Austinโs debut goal gave Southampton all three points late on, as United fired another blank and have now failed to score in the first half of their last 11 home matches.
[ VIDEO: Lallana, Liverpool celebrate wild winner ]ย
Fans chanted โattack, attack, attackโ and booed loudly at various stages during the game, and when Saintsโ game-winner went in United fansย surrounded the home dugout and hurled abuse at Van Gaal and his staff.
Speaking after the game the Dutch manager, 64, couldnโt argue with their assessment and for the first time during his reign he admitted the booing had taken place.
โThey are right to boo. I cannot deny that,โ Van Gaal said. โOf course they are disappointed and they have the right to boo me but we have to stick together in this period because we have a lot of injuries.โ
The defeat โ Unitedโs sixth of the season โ leaves them five points behind fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur and 10 points off first-place, and the former Bayern Munich, Ajax and Barcelona manager felt it coming while pointing to a defensive reshuffle leading to the only goal of the game.
โIt was not good today. We lost and in a sense you could know that our defense with set playsย became every minute weaker because I had to change players,โ Van Gaal said. โIt was a poor game and we could not create chances. Our opponent also had a few chances but it is more or less a 0-0 game but, at the end we have lost.โ
Matteo Darmian has to be replaced and was said to be coughing up blood, with United now down five full backs as Ashley Young, Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo are all out injured.
Injuries to his full backs should be the least of Van Gaalโs worries as the fans are continuing to turn against him. Despite a 1-0 win away at bitter rivals Liverpool last weekend, you canโt pull the wool over their eyes. United didnโt deserve last week, didnโt deserve to against Southampton and are failing to create chances on goal. Something has to change and Unitedโs executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has a very tough decision to make but wouldnโt be forgiven for firing Van Gaal following Unitedโs group stage exit in the UEFA Champions League and multiple laborious displays this season.
With calls for Jose Mourinho to replace LVG from many fans and pundits, only time will tell if the Dutch coach will see out the season in charge.ย Right now it doesnโt look like he will see out his contract which runs until the end of the 2016-17 season.
The video below from Southamptonโs Twitter account shows their players and staff celebrating the win but take a look at the first 30 seconds. Van Gaal is booed heavily and lambasted by supporters as he walks down from the dugout.
