West Ham vs Manchester United preview: Louis van Gaal knows the FA Cup is his last chance of a trophy
A trophyless season without a top four finish could see the Dutchman lose his job this summer
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Your support makes all the difference.Louis van Gaal knows that Manchester United are in the last chance saloon. They go to the Boleyn Ground on Wednesday night needing to win to reach the FA Cup semi-finals and to keep their season alive.
United are long out of Europe and long out of the title race. To qualify for next seasons’ Champions League they will need Manchester City, four points ahead of them, to collapse on the final straight, while also holding off the challenge from West Ham. This season is threatening to be even more underwhelming than the last one, unless they can win what would be their first major trophy of the post-Ferguson era.
No trophy and no top four this year and it is difficult to see how Van Gaal can possibly stay in charge of the biggest club in the country. He did not quite admit this on Sunday night, after seeing his team blown away in the second half by Tottenham Hotspur, but it cannot be far from his mind.
“This is the last chance of a title, so it is very important for the players, club, manager, fans,” said Van Gaal, who knows the stakes. “I think the players of Manchester United have to cope with that pressure, they have done it always. They know that every game in a cup is a match that you have to win. You must win or otherwise you are out of the cup.”
Van Gaal tried to put the pressure on West Ham by pointing to the fact that they also need to win, but there is no chance of Slaven Bilic not being in charge of his team next season, regardless of what happens in the next six weeks. Van Gaal cannot say the same.
“I think that West Ham also have that problem so I don’t think it plays a role,” Van Gaal said. “Both teams have to cope with that. Both teams know that when you are not winning you are out of the cup, and you don’t have any title.”
United will have to defend better on Wednesday night than they did on Sunday afternoon, when they were ripped apart by a Spurs side who found a level in the second half that United could not live with. Daley Blind and Chris Smalling will face Andy Carroll, who scored a hat-trick against Arsenal on Saturday, and were warned by their manager to improve their performance.
“I saw the Andy Carroll show,” Van Gaal said. “On Sunday I think our problem was the miscommunication of our central defenders. I hope that we improve our communication because this game is very important for us. Carroll has special qualities. We saw that in the match he played on Saturday against Arsenal, and they have great central defenders but he could still do that. So we have to cope with Andy Carroll but not only Andy Carroll, with other players. They have a player named Dimitri Payet, he can also play. Manuel Lanzini can play, and score goals.”
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