Bournemouth vs Manchester United: Louis van Gaal has 'no doubts' he remains the right man to lead United

Van Gaal is under growing pressure at United after crashing out of the Champions League

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he is still the right man to lead the club (Getty Images)

Louis van Gaal dismissed fears for his Manchester United job despite crashing out of the Champions League on Tuesday night after suffering a 3-2 defeat by Wolfsburg, with the Dutchman insisting he hasn’t got any doubts over his suitability to the manager’s job at Old Trafford.

Critics were out in force following United’s defeat in Germany, which saw Dutch league champions PSV Eindhoven progress to the last-16 at United’s expense. Having failed to make it out of the group stage – and subsequently consign themselves to Thursday night football in the Europa League – former United stars Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Michael Owen all criticised Van Gaal and his side.

But ahead of this weekend’s Premier League encounter at Bournemouth, Van Gaal appeared in a defiant mood, and he stressed that he remains the right man for the job despite the growing unrest among the Old Trafford faithful.

"No. I don't have any doubts,” Van Gaal said of his ability to win trophies with United.

"You can lose and you can win in sport, and you have to accept that, as a player and as a manager, but you have to work very hard and I am working very hard and my players are working very hard and doing everything we can do.

"The problem is that we have to meet the expectations and the expectations at a club like Manchester United are very high, and that's our problem."

Van Gaal was annoyed by a question regarding whether he would be happy with “just” the Europa League this season, with the manager quick to point out the difficulty in winning the competition.

"Just? You think it's just? I'm not thinking like that," Van Gaal snapped.

"I have already won the Europa League with Ajax in my first season, and I was very proud of that.

"For me, the Euro (Europa) League is a big competition."

Chris Smalling suffered injury in Manchester United's defeat to Wolfsburg

Having seen Matteo Darmian and Chris Smalling added to the lengthy injury list at United, Van Gaal is attempting to pick the players who are available up and improve their morale, rather than rotate his side and drop those struggling for form.

"I try to (lift their spirits) but of course, the players have to do that also by themselves, they are also the professionals," Van Gaal added when speaking to MUTV.

"They need to use their tools to lift them up and we have a lot to fight for, I think. So we are very close in the Premier League to the top.

"We can fight for the FA Cup and fight also for the Europa League, so I think we have enough to fight for."