Louis van Gaal has not yet proved a breath of fresh air in English football. For the most part his public utterances have amounted to a barrage of hot air about the philosophy he is trying to impart and the balance he is still seeking, though it must be said his assertion that Manchester United are now favourites for the FA Cup was amusing on several levels.

First, United have hardly played anyone in the FA Cup yet. They are in the fifth round by virtue of knocking out Yeovil and Cambridge, the latter needing a replay, and should they prosper against Preston North End next time out they will reach the last eight without encountering any opponents higher than League One.

Second, Van Gaal has not been in the country long enough to realise that valuing the FA Cup is so last century. Manchester City were so pepped up for it they only flew back into the country the night before their fourth-round tie against Middlesbrough, and played as if they were still on their holidays. Chelsea threw away a two-goal lead to be humiliated at home by League One Bradford City, on the same weekend that Swansea City, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur all crashed out to leave the Cup looking highly winnable for any of the decent teams left in it.

Van Gaal can see that, and he can also see that should United make it past Preston some more Premier League threats might have fallen by the wayside by the time the draw for the quarter-finals is made, but all the same fair play to him for nailing his colours to the mast. “I won always a title in my first year everywhere I worked,” the United manager said with characteristic immodesty. “Of course the highest-qualified teams have more possibilities to win than lower-qualified teams. The possibility is there and maybe people are betting on us. I am not allowed to but I can give you a tip. We have a real chance.”

Louis van Gaal says Manchester United are worth a bet to win the FA Cup Read more

There is every chance now that Van Gaal could be left with egg on his face after making such a statement, should United lose a semi-final to Bradford or Derby or someone, but he and his club are big enough to take the risk.

Better, surely than talking in vague terms about the need for silverware to show progress (Brendan Rodgers) or not managing to conceal the fact that finishing in the top four is far more important (Arsène Wenger). Last year’s FA Cup success actually was important to Wenger because Arsenal’s trophy drought had become something of a joke, but it does not necessarily follow that the Cup will be prioritised again when there is still work to do to ensure Champions League qualification.

Yet by the same token, Van Gaal must be aware that United’s top-four status still needs to be secured, but he is prepared to stick his neck out and make a Cup prediction, possibly because he wishes people to know that he “always” wins something in his first season at a new club. If that is the way he works, putting himself under a little extra personal pressure to succeed, then all credit to him. The cynical view might be that it is easy to say such things when you have just beaten Cambridge United, a team freshly back after nine years out of the league, in front of 74,500 people at Old Trafford. While Richard Money and his players were counting the proceeds and looking forward to some new toilets at the training ground, Van Gaal was able to select from such riches that the substitutes’ bench alone might have accounted for Cambridge. Not required to start the Cup game at Old Trafford were Phil Jones, Radamel Falcao, Ashley Young, Ander Herrera, Antonio Valencia, Victor Valdés and James Wilson. Adnan Januzaj, who played so encouragingly against Leicester City on Saturday that Van Gaal talked him up afterwards, appeared to have been given the night off.

It is difficult, possibly even unwise, to make any sort of prediction on the back of such a disparity of resources, so Van Gaal is to be commended even more for doing so. What he has basically said is that with the players at his disposal, and the calibre of the opponents remaining in the competition, he would back his side to do well. And so he should.

Manchester United have an outstanding chance of winning the FA Cup this year, not least because they have a manager who unequivocally wants a “title” and an expensively assembled squad that would rather not finish a second successive season empty handed. It is about time we had more honesty from managers, more bullishness, less weak-kneed (sorry ‘Arry) whingeing and excuse-making. Whether he intended to or not, Van Gaal has just made it clear that Manchester United have no excuse for failure in the FA Cup this season, not even the usual cop-out that they couldn’t be bothered about it anyway. Fifteen years after they shamefully pulled out of their defence of the trophy in a half-baked attempt to assist a doomed England World Cup bid, and 11 years since they last won it in an undercooked final in Cardiff against Millwall, Manchester United have come round to the importance, perhaps more accurately the usefulness, of the FA Cup. They may be riding for a fall after Van Gaal’s words, but that only adds to the interest.

Thanks to their manager’s unguarded but welcome honesty, United might even have a few neutrals rooting for them in the Cup this year. Like saying you want to win it, as opposed to shrugging to admit you don’t mind all that much if you go out of it, that is going to seem strange for a while.