Louis van Gaal gave a rousing speech to Manchester United’s players and staff calling for unity on Monday as he battled to save his job.

The beleaguered United boss received universal applause from an audience of nearly 200 during a Christmas lunch at the club’s Carrington training ground.

‘We are Manchester United and we will survive — but we have to stick together,’ was Van Gaal’s upbeat message, although a traditional pantomime performance by United’s youth teams was postponed.

Louis van Gaal gave a rousing speech calling for unity at a Manchester United Christmas lunch on Monday

Beleaguered United boss received universal applause from an audience of nearly 200 at club's training ground

Van Gaal is under huge pressure after a run of six games without a win and three straight defeats, culminating in Saturday’s shocking 2-1 loss at home to Norwich City.

United’s American owners, the Glazer family, and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward are understood to be considering a change and have made contact with representatives of Jose Mourinho, who was sacked by Chelsea last week.

Mourinho has already made it clear that he is ready to return to work immediately.

Indeed, sources at United suggested that the club have asked Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes to tell his star client not to jump straight into another job away from Old Trafford.

Mendes is the man who forged close ties with Sir Alex Ferguson and former chief executive David Gill, bringing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson, Bebe and David de Gea to United.

More recently, he has worked with Woodward on the signings of Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria, as well as De Gea’s new contract last summer, and remains an influential figure at the club.

Manchester United slipped to a third straight defeat against Norwich and are without a win in six games

Alex Tettey celebrates with Russell Martin and Jonny Howson as the Canaries won 2-1 at Old Trafford

However, Van Gaal wants the opportunity to turn his team’s fortunes around over the Christmas period, with games against Stoke City and Chelsea.

The cancellation of the club’s pantomime was blamed on today’s FA Youth Cup tie at home to Queens Park Rangers — the timing of this apparently meant that the younger players didn’t have enough time to rehearse their annual show, which they habitually use to mock United’s senior stars.

Or at least, that was the official explanation.

More likely, this is no time for fun and jokes when the manager is hanging on by his fingertips and the club have descended into a, well, pantomime.

‘Behind you . . . ’ are certainly not words that Van Gaal will want to hear right now with the spectre of Mourinho looming over Old Trafford.

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has already made it clear that he is ready to return to work immediately

Mourinho's agent Jorge Mendes remains influential at OId Trafford after tying up new contract for David de Gea

You could hardly blame United for cancelling a comedy show, just as the players themselves pulled the plug on their Christmas drinks party nine days ago because of the unfortunate timing.

After Monday's speech by Van Gaal, the players left for a visit to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital without goalkeeper De Gea, who was less than impressed to miss the trip because he was waylaid for two hours by a random drugs test requested by the doping control unit.

Even while Van Gaal carved the turkey, though, the knives were out for him in some quarters after a dreadful run that has seen United crash out of the Champions League and out of the top four in the Premier League.

The Manchester United players pulled the plug on their Christmas drinks party nine days ago

The ramifications of Saturday’s defeat by Norwich have reverberated from the stands to boardroom level.

The unflinching support expressed privately by senior figures just a couple of weeks ago has given way to a feeling that change may be needed.

After sending so many players to Old Trafford, Mendes could finally have a say in the appointment of their new manager as well.

Ferguson had championed the Portuguese coach as a possible replacement when he planned his retirement in 2013.

Sir Alex Ferguson championed Mourinho as a possible replacement when he planned his retirement in 2013

However, Mourinho had given Chelsea his word that he would return to Stamford Bridge when he left Real Madrid, and questions were raised at United about whether he would be the right fit for the club anyway.

Juan Mata echoed his manager’s call for unity, saying: ‘No matter how tough the situation can be, I’m not even thinking about giving up.

'We have to stick together and believe in ourselves so we can get a positive result as soon as possible.

‘I believe that the only way to get out of this bad streak is to keep working hard and sooner or later we will get the results we want.’