Louis van Gaal worried about unrest among Man United fans

Louis van Gaal admitted his concern that he could be losing the support of Manchester United fans after Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Burnley.

The Red Devils moved back into third place in the Premier League table with victory at Old Trafford but Van Gaal conceded that his side’s performance left a lot to be desired.

And the Manchester United manager, whose side were branded a “long-ball team” by West Ham manager Sam Allardyce last weekend, admits that his side need to improve their displays if they want to keep their supporters behind them.

“I heard the first whistles – that is a concern because we are playing for the fans,” Van Gaal told Sky Sports News after the game. “The fans are the most important part of the club.

“They keep the club living and that is very important but they also applauded after the match and always in matches there is 90 minutes, not 45. Today it was like that, I agree with that, so that is a pity because the fans were still supporting, because of the positive [score] at half time.

“I thought that was fantastic when the team was playing [like] that. I never had that experience with my other teams so I was happy with the support of the teams.

“But of course we cannot have that the next game because then we are out of the FA Cup because we were also lucky today.”

Wednesday’s win lifted Van Gaal’s side back into third place in the Premier League table, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea after the Blues’ 1-0 win over Everton.

MORE: Three players who need to improve for Man United

The Red Devils’ next game is a trip to Preston North End in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday night, before a clash with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in the Premier League.