After claims he had offered to leave earlier in the week, the Manchester
United manager hit out at such rumours and insists he has the full
backing of the club's board
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has hit out at media reports that he was set to leave Old Trafford, labelling the media "awful and horrible".
Several
newspaper reports claimed Van Gaal had offered to resign from his
position in the wake of United's 1-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday.
"I think that I have not mentioned that ever," he said of an offer to
quit the club. "You make your own stories and then I have to answer all
your stories.
"I am not doing that because I think it is awful
and horrible that you can write that and then I have to answer the
questions on that story."
United travel to Derby County on Friday
in the FA Cup fourth round, but Van Gaal said he remains worried about
the attention drawn by the inaccurate reports in the build-up to the
clash.
"I am very concerned that people are believing what you are writing, because I received a lot of calls and SMSs," he continued.
"It
is this world that you can write what you want and you don't have to
verify anything. This is the third time already that I have been sacked
and I am still sitting here for you. I am here because I am obliged to
do that.
"There are some people that I like because they put a
question in a very respectful way, but a lot of it is also in a
disrespectful way."
Van Gaal's future was cast into doubt after a run of only two league
victories in two months which have seen United drop to fifth spot in the
Premier League table, but he has says the backing of executive
vice-chairman Ed Woodward and the board is of some consolation.
"It’s
fantastic of course, but also that gives you a lot of pressure, because
when the board has such confidence in you, then the pressure is much
higher than when they say it’s your last game or something like that.
"When
your confidence is not so high, you can fight against it, but I always
fight. I am always fighting. When you fight, you have a bigger
motivation than when they support you."
The manager will be able
to call upon Michael Carrick for the visit to Derby after the England
midfielder's recovery from injury, but Van Gaal insisted he will not be
able to play the full 90 minutes.
Elsewhere, Matteo Darmian will
not be available due to the head injury he suffered against Southampton,
while Phil Jones (foot) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (knee) are still
absent.
"I cannot say [if they are close]," Van Gaal added of the latter pair.
"Every time I make a remark about injuries it is always difficult
because injuries have developments and you have to wait and see."