LOUIS VAN GAAL insists his self-belief has not wavered despite the mounting criticism he is facing at Manchester United.
But the Dutchman admits he is fighting a battle to manage the expectations at Old Trafford and says the club – and football itself - has changed from five or 10 years ago when they were the dominant force in the English game.
Despite spending £250m on new players in his 18 months in charge, Van Gaal insists he is still in a re-building process and that there were “positives” from the midweek defeat to Wolfsburg when United crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage.
That followed a run of four goal-less draws in six homes games when United were booed off by some supporters.
“People think it is ‘just’ the Europa League but I'm not thinking like that. I have already won the competition when it was the UEFA Cup in my first season at Ajax and I was very proud of that. For me, the Europa League is a big competition."
And he insists the team need to pick themselves up quickly because there is so much still to play for this season.
"They [the players] need to use their tools to lift them up and we have a lot to fight for, I think. So we are very close in the Premier League to the top. We can fight for the FA Cup and fight also for the Europa League, so I think we have enough to fight for."
Van Gaal’s hopes of a sparking an immediate improvement at Bournemouth have been hit by nine absentees.
Six of the players are defenders with Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian joining Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia on the side lines for the first-ever League meeting with the Cherries.
Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney are also still missing while Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended for three games.
The only positive news is that Morgan Schneiderlin is returning to fitness following his hip problem.
It means Van Gaal may have to play with three youngsters, Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair and Campbell Borthwick-Jackson in the back line.
He added: "It is not so good. We have eight injured players because Darmian and also Smalling we can add to this list, and Schweinsteiger is also suspended, so it's nine players who are not able to play.
"Schneiderlin is coming back, that’s not a problem, but we have a list of eight players injured and Rojo has been operated on this week and it takes a long time. These injuries are very heavy – Shaw and Valencia have also been operated on and that’s our problem."
Van Gaal is hoping Herrera, Smalling and Darmian will be fit for the busy Christmas and New Year programme.