Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal blamed injuries and unrealistic expectations for his team’s disappointing season after a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday confirmed a fifth place finish in the Premier League.
United are guaranteed a spote in next season’s Europa League four days before they play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final but Dutchman Van Gaal’s future is still the subject of intense speculation after two years in charge at Old Trafford.
“The issue is the amount of injuries in November and December, particularly in the two full back positions,” Van Gaal told reporters.
“We need creative, fast attackers and we have to take care of that. When everybody was fit we were first in the league. That is the facts.”
There were a number of empty seats at Old Trafford for the last home game of the season and a few banners suggesting the club’s supporters would be happy to see Van Gaal leave.
“The expectation is very high. Too high. We are a team in transition,” Van Gaal said. “I have tried to explain that.
“We didn’t reach our aim. We have to qualify for the Champions League. We have still the FA Cup final to go. Everyone has to make up his mind at how we have done this season at that time.”
Van Gaal was at least happy with his team’s performance against Bournemouth.
“It was a very good victory, we have created many, many chances in the second half and we played very well,” he said.
“We scored brilliant goals,” he added, referring to a well-worked effort by Wayne Rooney and another sparkling finish by 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford.
United, however, scored only 49 league goals all season, their lowest return since 1989-90.
After winning 13 league titles under manager Alex Ferguson with attack-minded teams who scored goals for fun, that simple statistic alone should make Van Gaal worry for his future at the Theatre of Dreams.

Rooney happy to find middle ground with United
Wayne Rooney insists he is willing to permanently give up his role as the spearhead of Manchester United’s forward line to move into a midfield berth.
Rooney won the man-of-the-match award for his influential display in midfield during United’s 3-1 win against Bournemouth on Tuesday and is keen to keep that role in the future.
Aware that he is no longer the same bundle of energy that burst onto the Premier League stage as a teenage striker with Everton, the 30-year-old has impressed in a deeper midfield role under United manager Louis van Gaal in recent months.
Some pundits wondered whether Rooney might take the move into midfield as a snub, but the United and England captain believes the switch could be a major benefit in the twilight of his career and hinted he would be comfortable performing the same role for his country after Euro 2016.
“I think sometimes you have to make choices in your career and at the minute it is probably better for me to play deeper,” said Rooney, who scored one and set up another against Bournemouth.
“Now obviously that’s a bit different now with England because I could still be the striker, but certainly after that, I am sure for next season, that is probably where I see myself playing.
“I think of course you’re involved in the game.
I feel like I can dictate games more from there and try and control the tempo in games, which I felt I did quite well against Bournemouth.”
Now Rooney will turn his attention to helping United finish by troubled season, that saw them fail to qualify for the Champions League, on a high in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
United haven’t won’t the Cup since 2004 and Rooney would love to make amends for his club’s struggles by lifting the trophy at Wembley on Saturday.
“We knew that fourth place was gone for us,” he said.
“We had to make sure that we didn’t let that affect us because we’ve got a big game coming up on Saturday and we wanted to stay in good habits for that game.”