Louis van Gaal has reportedly been given three games to turn things around at Manchester United in the wake of their 2-1 UEFA Europa League defeat to Midtjylland on Thursday, or he could find his time at Old Trafford brought to a premature end.That's according to James Robson of the Manchester Evening News, who notes the Dutchman has just one week to "save his job," as United's season largely hangs in the balance on their next three fixturesShrewsbury Town in the FA Cup on Monday, the second leg with Midtjylland on Thursday and a visit from Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.Failure to overcome the first two opponents would put an end to any hopes of the Red Devils achieving silverware this season, while another defeat in the league would put their slim chance of making the top four in further jeopardy.United have failed to convince under Van Gaal throughout the campaign, and a rare display of attacking prowess and flair in the 3-0 win over Stoke City at the start of February appears to have been a false dawn with the club slipping to 2-1 defeats to relegation candidates Sunderland and Danish side Midtjylland in their last two outings.Samuel Luckhurstof theManchester Evening Newsand football writer Liam Canning add further damning context to the latter defeat to put it in perspective:Rob Dawson, also of theManchester Evening News, condemned the display:Indeed, Luckhurst believes United should replace Van Gaal as manager (contains NSFW language):Football writer Nooruddean Choudry wryly noted the Dutchman has repeatedly been given the opportunity to turn things around to little avail:With Pep Guardiola taking over at Manchester City in the summer, Chelsea likely to hire another top manager of their own and Arsenal slowly but steadily improvingnot to mention the likes of Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur competing with themit's crucial for United to return to their elite status as soon as possible lest they be left behind by their rivals.Though it's important for coaches to be given time to implement their ideas, the Red Devils are arguably getting worse under Van Gaalthough they were hardly inspiring under David Moyes or in the 64-year-old's first campaign in charge, they were better than they have been this year.Even three successful results this week will do little to change that, as it could just as easily prove to be another minor boost to their fortunes.Van Gaal may well remain in charge until the end of the season regardless of the next three results, though should they fail to show at least some signs of life, it wouldn't be surprising if the club did act to remove him.
Click here to read full news..
