Louis van Gaal's delusion cannot disguise verdict of Manchester United fans

There were boos when Louis van Gaal took the microphone. He promptly thanked the Manchester United fans for their “unconditional support” this season. Clearly he does not comprehend the depth of feeling against him. The sight of Old Trafford, one-third unoccupied from the start, emptying at speed ought to have provided a clue.

The on-pitch end-of-season address tended to be a rousing affair when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge. Two years ago, during Ryan Giggs’ brief interim reign, it was cue for a reminder of United values. With Van Gaal, it seemed an example of delusion.

“Unconditional support” actually equated to apathy, plus a smattering of opposition. There has been an uneasy, unofficial truce for months. They have supported the team, not the manager. The FA Cup final means it has been extended by the many who endure, not enjoy, Van Gaal’s reign. The minority were louder, but the majority’s hope is also that this is the last they see of the Dutchman. Instead, the sparsely-attended lap of appreciation illustrated that those remaining appreciate United’s triple Player of the Year, David de Gea.

It may be, if reports with his agent Jorge Mendes’ fingerprints on them are to be believed, the Spaniard’s final game at Old Trafford. Unless there is regime change, of course, and Mendes’ client Jose Mourinho is installed which would prompt a sudden change of heart from the goalkeeper and a surge of optimism around a depressed ground. As it was, and while the only mention of “the Special One” came from the Bournemouth supporters hailing Eddie Howe as such, Van Gaal launched a pre-emptive strike before optimism could be imbued.

Asked if he was confident he would remain in situ next season, he replied with an unequivocal: “Yes.” It came despite the acceptance a regression from fourth to fifth amounted to a step back. “Of course,” he said, a welcome injection of honesty preceding a resort to excuses. “We need luck and I cannot say we had too much luck this season,” he complained, while lamenting that fourth place was decided on goal difference, rather than United’s superior head-to-head record against Manchester City.

Yet any mention of goals only serves to highlight Van Gaal’s failure. This was a bounteous occasion, the only time United players scored four times in a league game this season. Admittedly one, from Chris Smalling, was an own goal, which cost De Gea a share of the Golden Glove.

Ashley Young’s late third had the sort of statistical significance that would have seemed bizarre in past years. It meant United, with 49, had mustered more league goals than Sunderland this season. They struck 86 times in Ferguson’s final campaign, or 45 more than Sunderland. They lost the title on goal difference under the Scot 12 months earlier, despite scoring 89 times. United, that byword for entertainment, have lost some 40 percent of their firepower in three years.

Few teams were less equipped for a scenario – albeit utterly ludicrous – of needing a 19-0 win. The chorus in the first few seconds was “attack, attack, attack”. It is advice Van Gaal has rarely heeded and, requiring a goal every four minutes and 44 seconds, United responded by going 42 minutes without a shot on target. It was an exercise in nothingness, a passage of interminable tedium that was so dull that even Van Gaal admitted his team played too slowly.

But time can stand still at Old Trafford. Everything has dragged out, whether passing moves, games, the season or Van Gaal’s reign. One observer wandered around at half-time saying: “I’m praying for a bomb scare.” That was after United took the lead, too, with Wayne Rooney completing a slick move by finishing from Anthony Martial’s cut-back.

Rooney, who was involved in all three goals, had a day to suggest his future could lie in midfield. He supplied perceptive chipped passes for Marcus Rashford and Young to add further goals. Martial and Rashford, shining lights in the darkness of United’s moribund football, departed to standing ovations. They have kept the outright opposition to Van Gaal within the ground to a minimum and yet, for all the encouragement they have offered, it is notable that United have only scored 49 times despite their breakthrough campaigns and breakneck pace.

They have pulled Van Gaal back from the brink to such an extent that it would be no surprise if he lingered around for next year, a lack of ambition in the style of play seeming mirrored in the club’s objectives. Yet the manager has felt on borrowed time for five months. Van Gaal’s success, such as it is, has been in delaying the day of reckoning. United’s season came to a premature end in David Moyes’ season, and so did his tenure. This has gone on and on: some 55 hours after the rest of the Premier League campaign elsewhere, its 380th and final game eventually ended with United condemned to the Europa League.

They may yet qualify on two grounds, as fifth-place finishers and FA Cup winners. As it was, the silverware paraded on the turf was the Under-21 Premier League title. Van Gaal was asked if United can secure the senior crown in 12 months’ time. “It is always possible because Leicester City was more or less a relegation team,” he replied. By those grounds, anything is possible. But the thought of Louis van Gaal leading Manchester United to the Premier League title seems utterly improbable.