Louis van Gaal looks like a man who is told day after day that a car has rolled over his cat.
Deflated is the word we would use most to describe his demeanour in post-match interviews, as the pressure increases while Manchester United flounder under his stewardship.
The Dutchman saw his side lose 1-0 to Southampton on Saturday afternoon to slip further away from the chance of the title, and afterwards the ex-Bayern Munich boss admitted that one disappointment more than all haunts him at Old Trafford.
It’s not the fact that Maroaune Fellaini still cannot trap a football, or that Wayne Rooney’s hair appears to be once again receding despite extensive treatment.
Instead, Van Gaal feels bad for the fans – the fans who have taken to booing him off the field because they expect much better than two shots on target in 90 minutes of football.
“I’m very disappointed that I cannot reach the expectations of the fans.
“They have – or they had – great expectations of me, and I cannot fulfil them, so I am very frustrated because of that.”
He perhaps means ‘have not’ rather than cannot, but either way, it sure sounds like a man ready to give up the ghost. When asked about his future, Van Gaal merely said: “This question I shall never answer.”
Jose Mourinho might get a reply to his love letter any day now.
