Louis van Gaal has spent the weekend locked in crisis talks on his future with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Sportsmail can reveal the United manager has shockingly lost faith in his own ability to arrest a run of four successive defeats and has discussed with his employers the option of walking away from the club.

It is understood, however, that Woodward has implored the man he appointed 18 months ago to stay on until at least after Monday evening's home game with Chelsea.

Louis van Gaal has had crisis talks with Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward

Van Gaal has lost faith in his own ability to turn things around after United lost a fourth game in a row

Woodward has implored the man he appointed 18 months ago to stay until the clash with Chelsea at least

Woodward knows that another setback at Old Trafford — following the 2-0 Boxing Day defeat at Stoke — would make Van Gaal's position untenable. However, the United chief told the Dutchman in the wake of Saturday's defeat that he wants to give him every chance to move the club forward.

Their conversation came on the back of an initial phone chat last week, with Woodward telling Van Gaal to forget any thoughts about throwing in the towel.

This is what prompted Van Gaal's demands for an apology from the media for their coverage of his predicament at last Wednesday's short-lived press conference and, indeed, his peculiar and unprompted comments about quitting after the Stoke defeat.

However, that bullishness cannot hide the fact that one of modern football's most decorated and respected managers has all but lost faith in his ability to turn things round in what he has admitted will be the last job of his long career.

After the Stoke game Van Gaal took the unusual step of taking his players back to their training ground for a light 5pm work-out, something that surprised at least one high-profile figure at the club.

The United manager oversaw a recovery session at Carrington on Sunday before one final meeting in the afternoon in a bid to talk tactics and lift morale and confidence ahead of Monday's game.

Woodward knows that Van Gaal's position could become untenable if United lose against Chelsea

Van Gaal led his players through a training session at 5pm after leaving the early kick-off defeat at Stoke

It is understood, however, that Van Gaal told sources after Saturday's game that he thinks his players' belief is shot and that he doesn't give them much chance of winning on Monday.

This was a theme he alluded to publicly when asked on Saturday if he thought he would see an improvement against Chelsea.

'It's very difficult,' he said. 'It's very difficult, because we have to recover and we have to prepare also for the game. It's very tough to do that, I'm aware of that.'

It is understood that Van Gaal told sources he doesn't give his side much chance of beating Chelsea

Van Gaal has all but lost faith in his ability to turn things round in what could possibly be his last job

United have lost consecutive games to Stoke City, Norwich and Bournemouth in the Barclays Premier League and Wolfsburg in the Champions League.

Van Gaal will recall Wayne Rooney on Monday after dropping him on Saturday but it is understood the United captain is suffering his own crisis of confidence.

Van Gaal added: 'When you lose four matches in a row, the pressure of the environment increases. So it is much more difficult. There are no ways, artificial ways, to solve that. We need a victory and that's very important.'