Van Gaal backed into corner as United’s confidence drains away

At the final whistle there were instant boos, the loudest yet for the mess Louis van Gaal has sleepwalked Manchester United into. This was a third consecutive defeat. And a month has passed since his side has beaten any team – a dire run of six matches.

Perhaps most damning is that there is no surprise. The progress engineered by Van Gaal in returning United to the Champions League and beginning a rebuilding of the squad has been stalling for most of the season. It finally halted when Wolfsburg knocked United out of Europe’s top club competition and Bournemouth downed them in the following Premier League match.

Familiar opening

United came into this contest on the back of those two results. Van Gaal billed Norwich City’s visit as must-win match but after a familiar opening 25-minute flurry his side became becalmed and their opponents proceeded to do what United just cannot: take their chances.

For a manager with an autocratic streak, Van Gaal’s willingness to discuss how confidence is affecting his players is intriguing and opens the door further to self-doubt. It was the manager’s explanation for the two terrible goals conceded. Cameron Jerome, on 38 minutes, and Alexander Tettey, on 54, proved ruthless but each should never have been allowed a chance.

The opener arrived when Phil Jones missed a tackle on Nathan Redmond. This allowed a pass to Jerome along the right. The striker was a few feet inside United’s half and a sluggish Chris Smalling lost the race to him, yet still Jerome might have been stopped. On cutting inside, a covering Ashley Young tackled like the novice right back he is and when Jerome shot, a weak David de Gea hand failed to stop the ball.

The second strike was the result of another series of errors. On the occasion of his 500th appearance, Wayne Rooney should be troubled by how Tettey outmuscled him. He passed to Jerome and again Jones failed to get a foot in. When the ball was returned to Tettey, Young’s amble when trying to close him down meant there was a universe of time for a toe-poke that beat De Gea once more.

Anthony Martial’s quick feet inside a crowded area pulled one back with 24 minutes left. At the close Smalling had a golden chance to redeem himself and allow Van Gaal to sleep easier but his header went wide.

It was United’s first defeat over 90 minutes at Old Trafford this season but Alex Neil’s side had still arrived sniffing blood. Robbie Brady said: “I’m not sure if they’ve been beaten at home this season. They are known for rolling teams over in the second half and they’ve had some unbelievable comebacks but I thought we held them well after they got the goal back.”

The careful playing style Van Gaal adheres to is detested by many United fans. It places high emphasis on guarding the ball, so to see how quickly possession was ceded to Norwich is a mark of the side’s dysfunction. “We knew they would want to keep the ball but we were able to get the ball back a lot quicker than we expected sometimes,” Brady said. “It was a good game to be involved in. Things went well for us.

“They were coming off the back of some poor results. They got beat last week. We thought they might come out quick to try to hurt us early on. They would have wanted to prove a point after last week but we managed to get the first goal against the run of play. But second half we were more in it and created a few chances.”

Sequence

United’s sequence since Watford were defeated 2-1 on November 21st is 0-0 against PSV Eindhoven, 1-1 against Leicester City, 0-0 against West Ham United, 2-3 to Wolfsburg, 1-2 to Bournemouth – and now this.

It cannot continue for too much longer if Van Gaal wants to retain his job and the St Stephen’s Day visit to Stoke City takes on particular magnitude. United have dropped to fifth place and given the Premier League was the club’s priority over any other competition this season, including the Champions League, the manager is treading on precarious ground.

Juan Mata said: “We tried. You always have to believe until the end that you can score, firstly to equalise and then win the game. Anthony Martial scored a good goal and after that we created chances but it was too late in the game. We couldn’t do it and I’m very disappointed.”

As is everyone connected with the club. Van Gaal dare not lose at Stoke or to Chelsea two days later. Guardian Service