Much ado about nothing between van Gaal and Giggs

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal was "irritated" when asked about his relationship with assistant Ryan Giggs. Do you think all's well between the two?

PARKER: I don't think there's anything wrong between the two of them.

Giggs probably didn't celebrate the 1-0 win against Newcastle because he has got the kind of Sir Alex Ferguson head on him.

He wasn't happy with the performance and didn't see anything to jump about.

I'm not happy with the performance.

Gary Neville, Denis Irwin and all those who played under Fergie wouldn't be happy with what they had seen.

Knowing Giggs, he's the kind of person to keep everything close to his chest. It obviously meant a lot to the manager to get the three points.

The press are probably just looking for something to go on about.

Should United fail to qualify for the Champions League and van Gaal is either sacked or leaves the club on his own accord, do you think Giggs is ready to take over the reins?

No. He's still got quite some way to go.

He has been an assistant manager for only a year and then, all of a sudden, people are saying that he's ready to manage United.

That's a little too quick and ambitious.

You need experience to organise things and deal with players and that comes only with time.

It doesn't come from being a great player for one football club.

Van Gaal's Man United are a pale shadow of the teams under Sir Alex Ferguson. What's wrong with them at the moment?

The football they are playing is absolutely awful.

Juan Mata is the club's best No. 10 but, for some reason, van Gaal got Wayne Rooney playing there.

Ander Herrera should be playing more regularly because he moves the ball very quickly, something which United don't do enough.

I look at the backline and think, how can so many players suffer so many injuries at the same time? There are too many sicknotes. Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw are always injured.

Shaw seldom got injured when he was at Southampton. Is it because some of them are afraid to play because of the pressure of playing for United?

Angel di Maria cost a fortune, and he should be hitting the ground by now.

What do you think van Gaal needs to do?

They have not had much luck with injuries but there's too much chopping and changing.

Van Gaal might have wanted to keep players on their toes but certain players need time to feel wanted and to get used to a system.

The solution is continuity. That gives them the best chance to win games and gives the players a chance to stick together.

That's what Chelsea do. They haven't always played well but have usually gone on to win matches.

The players know and trust one another. At United, players such as Herrera, Mata and Radamel Falcao play in one game and find themselves sitting on the bench in the next game.

So they hardly have time to prove themselves.

Can you see United finishing in the top four?

No, I can't.

Let's leave out Chelsea and Man City of this discussion, for obvious reasons.

Arsenal have made it to the Champions League for 17 consecutive years, so you can't rule them out.

That makes it only one spot left.

Spurs are not out of it. Southampton, every time you think they are out of the running, they spring right back into it.

Between United and Liverpool, I would say United are the outsiders and Liverpool the favourites.

Liverpool are unbeaten in the league in 2015, and that makes a lot of difference to their confidence.

Newcastle's Papiss Cisse could be banned for seven games for spitting at Jonny Evans. The United defender could be taken to task too. What's your take on the incident?

Spitting is the lowest of the low. You can't think of anything lower than spitting at a human being.

I would rather punch somebody.

It's disgusting. There should be a minimum ban of 10 games.

* Paul Parker is an ex-England and Man United defender who won two EPL titles and earned 19 caps for his country. He is now a football pundit with FOX Sports.

"The football they are playing is absolutely awful... I look at the backline and think, how can so many players suffer so many injuries at the same time?

- Paul Parker on Manchester United

"I am very irritated at this question because everyone can see we have a very good relationship... I take my measures against the media. I am not pleased."

- United manager Louis van Gaal angered by questions about his working relationship with No. 2 Ryan Giggs