Moyes issues warning to LVG

FORMER Manchester United boss David Moyes has warned his successor Louis van Gaal he has to qualify for the Champions League to stand any chance of keeping his job.

The Dutchman, whose future has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, suffered a further blow as United lost 2–1 to lowly Sunderland.

As the final whistle sounded at the Stadium of Light, fifth–placed United were six points adrift of the top four and Van Gaal and skipper Wayne Rooney later admitted winning the Europa League this season could be the easier route to the Champions League.

But Moyes, who knows the price of failure at Old Trafford after his own ill–fated 10–month spell at the helm, has predicted a bleak future for the manager if he doesn’t get there.

He said: "I knew Manchester United needed to qualify for the Champions League. They are a club of status and want to be at that level, if not more.”

Given his own experience, Moyes has sympathy for Van Gaal: "There's so much media attention on Louis just now,” he said. “When I lost my job, he was lauded by everybody in football – by you people, the media and everybody else. Now many of you are the ones saying he should lose his job.”

United were ultimately undone by two set plays at the Stadium of Light with Wahbi Khazri's third–minute free–kick evading goalkeeper David de Gea, who could later only help Lamine Kone's header from a Khazri corner into his own net after Anthony Martial had levelled.