• Premier League

Van Gaal has backing of Manchester United hierarchy

The Manchester United hierarchy is still "totally" behind Louis van Gaal, sources have told ESPN, and plans to back the manager in the close-season with a similar amount of money to last summer.

Van Gaal's future has become a topic of discussion after the side were eliminated from the FA Cup quarter-finals by Arsenal at Old Trafford on Monday, raising new fears that they may miss out on the Champions League places ahead of a testing series of league fixtures.

In their next five games, United, who are fourth in the table, face four of the top six: Tottenham at home, Liverpool away, Manchester City at home and Chelsea away.

Several Old Trafford sources have told ESPN, however, that support for Van Gaal among the top club officials is "rock solid."

The one caveat to that is identical things were said about David Moyes last season, until the prospect of finishing in the Champions League places began to properly fade.

Moyes, however, had lost the support of the dressing room long before his April sacking, with that filtering through the club and only adding to the pressure of poor results.

Sources have told ESPN that this is not the case with the Dutchman, with the United squad behind the manager and that the manner in which he keeps them on their toes reminds them of former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

There is also faith from the hierarchy that Van Gaal will eventually succeed in instilling his desired system of play within the squad. The current plans are to back him with a figure close to the £150 million spent in the summer of 2014, to further bolster the squad.

This article originally appeared on ESPN FC

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