Louis van Gaal admits his Manchester United players have driven him to boredom and anger at times this season.
Van Gaal's future as United boss will be thrown into question again on Tuesday if his team fail to win at Newcastle.
United ended an eight-match winless run by defeating Swansea nine days ago and then followed that victory up with another triumph in the FA Cup against Sheffield United.
Those wins have merely papered over the cracks, however. The pressure is still on Van Gaal because of the often dull and uninspiring performances of his team.
Paul Scholes branded United's style of play "boring" earlier this season and following Saturday's 1-0 victory over League One opposition, the former club great claimed both Van Gaal and his players looked "bored" during the third round tie.
Van Gaal has been at odds with Scholes for much of his 18-month spell at the club, but on Monday the 64-year-old conceded some of the football on display at Old Trafford this season has been rather dull.
"There are matches that I have enjoyed," Van Gaal said. "And there are also matches where I'm very bored or angry because we are not disorganising our opponent's defence but that is football."
Van Gaal railed at the suggestion that his primary aim is to stifle the opposition, rather than attack.
"Do you know that?" Van Gaal snapped during an edgy news conference at Carrington. "I am not concerned [about defending more than attacking].
"At this moment we have a lack of creativity and you can see that but they have done it [played well in the past] so they can do it."
So why, after spending over a quarter of a billion pounds on new players, can Van Gaal not inspire his team to perform well on a regular basis? Is it because he refuses to come to the touchline in matches to bark orders at his players like Sir Alex Ferguson did?
"I'm not Sir Alex, as you know," said Van Gaal, who has rarely come to the touchline to speak to his players during his spell at the club.
"Everybody is different and I don't believe in yelling from the sidelines. I believe in communication during the week, during the preparation and I believe in my players who have to perform.
"It's very difficult because of the noise. A lot of managers are [yelling from the sidelines] but I doubt if they have real influence."
At times on Monday it seemed as if Van Gaal was in denial. He even offered the theory that traffic could have been to blame for the exodus by scores of supporters before Wayne Rooney's 93rd minute penalty on Saturday.
"They are not thinking that we would score, I think, and maybe also because of the traffic," he said.
Van Gaal even suggested United fans should be happy with their team's current form.
"You have to be happy as a Manchester United fan that we are in next round and we have won the last two games," he added
There was also a reminder to the supporters that life was not always rosy before he took over.
"The fans have to know that we can't always play fantastic football," Van Gaal said. "And that was also the case in former days. I'm sorry, but it is like that."
Ryan Giggs and Scholes were ever-presents during Ferguson's successful spell at the helm. Giggs has rarely been allowed to speak in public since he became Van Gaal's assistant, so his thoughts on Scholes' criticism of his boss are unknown.
"No," was the flat answer when asked whether Giggs ever discusses Scholes' criticism of the club.
Van Gaal insists the former winger who symbolised United's attacking traditions with his playing style, does have serious input when it comes to the team's current tactics, though.
"He has a lot of influence in our decisions because I communicate every decision with my staff so he can have a big influence," Van Gaal said.