Louis van Gaal reveals the disappointment that is haunting him most at Old Trafford

Louis van Gaal looks like a man who is told day after day that a car has rolled over his cat.

Deflated is the word we would use most to describe his demeanour in post-match interviews, as the pressure increases while Manchester United flounder under his stewardship. The Dutchman saw his side lose 1-0 to Southampton on Saturday afternoon to slip further away from the chance of the title, and afterwards the ex-Bayern Munich boss admitted that one disappointment more than all haunts him at Old Trafford. It's not the fact that Maroaune Fellaini still cannot trap a football, or that Wayne Rooney's hair appears to be once again receding despite extensive treatment. Instead, Van Gaal feels bad for the fans - the fans who have taken to booing him off the field because they expect much better than two shots on target in 90 minutes of football.

"I’m very disappointed that I cannot reach the expectations of the fans. "They have – or they had – great expectations of me, and I cannot fulfil them, so I am very frustrated because of that.”

He perhaps means 'have not' rather than cannot, but either way, it sure sounds like a man ready to give up the ghost. When asked about his future, Van Gaal merely said: "This question I shall never answer." Jose Mourinho might get a reply to his love letter any day now.