Louis Van Gaal admits it's crunch time for Man Utd

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Louis Van Gaal admits it's crunch time for Man Utd
 
 LOUIS VAN GAAL yesterday admitted that Manchester United's stuttering season has reached crunch time.
 
 United host Tottenham tomorrow in a crucial showdown that will kick-start a run of games that promise to make-or-break United's first campaign under the Dutchman.
 
 United are facing a desperate battle to secure a top four finish and a much-needed return to the Champions League.
 
 But standing between Van Gaal and the main target United bosses set him when he took charge last summer, are some of his biggest rivals.
 
 The pressure is mounting on Van Gaal to get United back into the club football's biggest competition after spending £150m on big-name signings last summer.
 
 But United must face four of their top six rivals in the next five outings, with arch rivals Liverpool, Manchester City and league-leaders Chelsea all waiting for Van Gaal's men following the visit of Spurs.
 
 The omens don't look good for United considering they have not beaten a team currently in the top half of the table in 2015 and Van Gaal knows it is time for his stars to show some bottle.
 
 The Dutchman is refusing to contemplate life without Champions League football next season and reckons his men are now in a 10-match rat race.
 
 He said: "It is very decisive, the coming matches. It is a rat race. We play against a very good team in Tottenham and then we can see already the next match.
 
 "But then, still, we have to continue. We are so close with a lot of clubs. We can be second or third, it is not a big difference I believe.
 
 "I have a lot of confidence in my players. From what I see in training sessions, we have progressed.
 
 " I have always thought that when you can show it in training, you can also show it in a match.
 
 "But there is a big difference between training sessions and matches. We have to wait for the big victory.
 
 "Then, maybe, we shall have more spirit and also more confidence to win our games.
 
 "Of course, Manchester United has to be one of the teams who has to play in the Champions League.
 
 "We have seen that this year. It is not good. Surely when it is the second year. But it is always possible because you never win every game and there are a lot of clubs who are going for it.
 
 "But we have the confidence to reach the goal that we have set at the beginning of the season."
 
 Van Gaal, meanwhile, has stuck the boot into Radamel Falcao once again by admitting he flopped playing for United's kids in midweek.
 
 And he admits he is totally baffled why the £43m Colombian flop has failed to make his mark in English football.
 
 Falcao's miserable loan-spell at United hit rock-bottom this week when he lasted just 71 minutes of United's U21 clash with Spurs.
 
 Van Gaal denies he humiliated the striker by making him turn out in the game but admits he is running out of ideas as to how to get the misfiring forward scoring goals again.
 
 Falcao has netted just four times this season and United are expected to send him back to Monaco in May instead of signing the £280,000-a-week star on a permanent deal.
 
 Van Gaal said: "Falcao didn't play his best match in the second team, but he tried to do his utmost best, more I can't ask of players.
 
 "I let my players play in the second squad. I have read that it's a 'humiliation', but I don't think so.
 
 "It's a professional attitude, a professional attitude of the manager, of his management of the club, but especially also from the player.
 
 "We are looking for the solution for him, but you never can know that. A lot of aspects you can't control as a manager, nor as a player.
 
 "That's also the beauty of the football world, that you can give fantastic performances in another country but not in the country you are playing in presently.
 
 "This is not the first example and it shall not be the last example. A lot of players need more time to adapt to the new situation, to the new culture, to the higher rhythm of the English game , to a lot of aspects.
 
 "You can easily write, 'He can't play football, he didn't do that.' But I can't say that and don't want to say that because Falcao, and all the other players, are working very hard and I'm very pleased with their attitude."