Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal expressed confidence that he will still be at Old Trafford next season, despite his team crawling to an underwhelming fifth-place finish in the Premier League.
United beat Bournemouth 3-1 in their final fixture on Tuesday — a game held over from Sunday due to a bomb scare — but it was not enough to take them into the Champions League places as they finished below fourth-place Manchester City on goal difference.
United must now beat Crystal Palace in Saturday’s FA Cup final to salvage something from their season and there were ripples of dissent toward Van Gaal in the form of boos as he began a post-match address to a thin home crowd.
However, despite persistent speculation linking Jose Mourinho with his job, when asked if he would still be in place on the first day of next season, Van Gaal replied: “Yes. Because I have signed a three-year contract.”
Fears that supporters would stay away following Sunday’s postponement, which followed the discovery of a fake bomb left by accident in a toilet cubicle during a training exercise, were realized.
The stadium appeared about two-thirds full.
However, Van Gaal used his post-game speech to praise United’s fans for their “unconditional” support and said the stadium was only not full because overseas supporters had been unable to make the trip.
“I have said that also with very much conscience. In spite of the fact we have not always played very well, they have supported the players on the pitch always. However things have gone on the pitch, they never let us down and they always have come, 75,000, always. Not today, but why do you think? We have a lot of fans out of Asia. They are coming, 24 hours flying, and back. They couldn’t see the match and that’s why,” he said.
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