Louis Van Gaal admitted he himself might consider resigning from the post of Manchester United manager, while insisting the decision will be made not due to the pressure piled on by the media after his team crashed to another defeat in the English Premier League on Boxing Day.
Van Gaal had staged a walkout in the pre-match press conference leading up to the match against Stoke on Boxing Day over a perceived negativity surrounding stories concerning him and his future at the club.
Another awful performance, though, only gave more fodder to the media, with reports of Jose Mourinho possibly joining Old Trafford increasing by the day.
Van Gaal looked a little crestfallen after the 2-0 defeat handed by Stoke, through goals from Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic, but the Dutchman tried to be as defiant as possible even if some of the comments pointed towards his association with Manchester United coming to a premature end.
"I can quit by myself but that is something I speak about with [Manchester United executive vice chairman] Ed Woodward by himself," Van Gaal said. "I will speak with him first and then with my staff. I need to have a conversation but I do not need to tell you what I want to say. I am not so interested in public talking."
Asked if he will still be the Manchester United manager when Chelsea pay a visit on Monday, Van Gaal was again a little evasive, with that fight seemingly at its last embers. "You will have to wait and see," the Dutchman said. "But I think so."
What cannot be denied, whatever the outcome, is the fact that Manchester United just haven't been good enough over the last few matches. The defence, after a tight start, has started to struggle and with the offence already in dire straits, the Van Gaal philosophy is currently in big trouble.
Something needs to change, otherwise what will, will be the Manchester United manager.
"We didn't dare to play football in the first half [against Stoke] and then we gave a very bad goal away," Van Gaal added. "That was too much. They scored from a freekick and then it was halftime.
"We have spoken with each other and I have to say the second half was much better, we created one or two chances and you have to score. Then the belief is coming back and we played better in the second half, but the problem is we didn't dare to play."
