‘United need three months to learn my methods’
you have to adapt to that way of coaching. It’s not so easy, and also the way I train and coach is in the brains, and not the legs.
“A lot of players are playing intuitively, and I want them to think and know why they do something. That’s a process that is difficult at first.
“When we survive for the first three months, it will be the same as at Bayern (Munich). After three months there, we were seventh (in the Bundesliga) and third in the Champions League (group stage).
“We had to win at Juventus, we did, and that was the turning point.”
Van Gaal, who led the Netherlands to third place at the World Cup in Brazil, said he had turned down an approach by Tottenham Hotspur before taking the United job, and would not engage in verbal sparring with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese recently hit out at the wage demands of new United defender Luke Shaw, but Van Gaal said he would not let him get under his skin.
“He shall not do that with me,” said Van Gaal, who appointed Mourinho as his assistant while at Barcelona.
“I play against Chelsea and not against Jose Mourinho. My team and his team are playing against each other.”
United reportedly spent close to £60 million (R1.07 billion) on Shaw and Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera last month, but Van Gaal said he was determined to give opportunities to the young players already at the club.
“When you see Ajax, I had the youngest team to win the Champions League with 17-, 18-, 19-year-old players. And the way you see Barcelona still playing with six players from my time is because I gave a lot of chances to youth players.
“The structure and the culture of the club is Xavi, (Andres) Iniesta, (Carles) Puyol, (Victor) Valdes.
“At Bayern Munich, it was the same. You can see that in (Thomas) Mueller, (David) Alaba, (Toni) Kroos.
“When I buy, I buy players for the long term, not the short term, because I do respect the club a lot.” – Reuters