Is Van Gaal’s time up?

Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League last night following a disappointing 3-2 defeat to Wolfsburg.

Failure to qualify from the Champions League group stages has served to further build the pressure on manager Louis Van Gaal who is facing increasing criticism for his supposedly dull style of football and failure to achieve success both on the field and in the transfer market.

United were booed of the pitch by large sections of their own fans following Saturday’s 0-0 draw against West Ham at Old Trafford, which saw Van Gaal’s side drop down to fourth place in the table.

In his 18 months at the club Van Gaal has averaged 1.83 points per game, which is only marginally better than David Moyes’ record during his ill-faited spell at Old Trafford.

Van Gaal has also spent in excess of £250 million with numerous big money signings such as Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrara and Anthony Martial largely failing to make an impact.

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand said last night that Van Gaal’s time could well be up. Speaking on BT Sport after the Wolfsburg game Ferdinand said, “It is embarrassing… If you strip it back this squad needs a hard look. There is no pace or power.People are looking around at each other rather than saying I will drag you through.”

Fellow BT Sport pundit Micheal Owen went on to state that he believes Van Gaal has actually weakened the United side during his 18 months in charge. “Manchester United are fourth in the league, this season they’ve been knocked out by Middlesbrough in the League Cup, they’ve been knocked out in one of the easier groups of the Champions League and they’re playing poorly week in, week out.

“It’s not just now, it’s 18 months of [being] below par with all that money.” said the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker.

He continued, “This is a worse squad now…”Rafael, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Nani, Shinji Kagawa, Robin van Persie, Javier Hernandez, Adnan Januzaj and Danny Welbeck would all get in to that side.”

United travel to Eddie Howe’s Bournmouth on Saturday in what is now surely a must win game.

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