Louis van Gaal Faces Key Spell Of Games

The pressure has been eased on Louis van Gaal following FA Cup success at Shrewsbury, but the Dutchman now faces a key spell of games which could define Manchester United's season, says Steve Round.

Van Gaal was given few worries as Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard booked a home tie with West Ham after a comfortable 3-0 win at Greenhous Meadow.

In a week which could prove pivotal at Old Trafford, it was one game ticked off with minimum fuss as United strolled to their first victory in four matches.

Progress in the Europa League, where United must overturn a 2-1 deficit to FC Midtjylland on Thursday, is paramount while any Champions League hopes could hinge on Sunday's Premier League visit of Arsenal.

"He'll sleep well tonight but a manager's life moves on pretty quickly," said former United assistant coach Round. "They went about it in a real professional manner, played some really good football controlling the game from start to finish and ran out deserved winners.

"From what I can gather the owners are quite strong, they've said they're going to stick with him and I'm hoping they do stick with him.

"They now move into the game on Thursday [against Midtjylland] with a bit of confidence and they might get one or two players back. That's a game I fully expect them to go through on.

"Every spell is really important at Manchester United. At Manchester United you've got to be competing at the top end of the league and competing for trophies, and if you're not, you're always going to be under pressure - that's fact.

"It's a tough period coming up. Arsenal's going to be a tough game because they're flying high, but maybe you're catching them at the right time because they're coming off a massive game in the Champions League [against Barcelona].

"Manchester United on their day can beat anybody so I wouldn't put it past them to go there [to the Emirates] and get a result."

Credit: Skysports.com