by Mark Bassey

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal, has warned the club and fans, that it might take another three months, before he can make his mark at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman has been brought in as a replacement for David Moyes, who led the Red Devils to a lowly seventh position in the Premier League last season.

United fans have been full of expectations, especially as Van Gaal showed glimpses of his tactical awareness in leading Holland to bronze at the 2014 World Cup, but the new coach was eager to play down such optimism.

“Every club where I have been, I’ve struggled for the first three months,” Van Gaal said.

“After that, they [the players] know what I want – how I am as a human being and also a manager, because I am very direct.

“I say things as they are, so you have to adapt to that way of coaching. It’s not so easy.

“The way I train and coach is in the brains, not the legs. But the most important thing is they have to know why we do things. When they do, the footballer is not playing intuitively.

“A lot of players are playing intuitively and I want them to think and know why they do something. That process is difficult at first and in the first three months. It takes time.

“When we survive the first three months, it will be the same as for me as it was at Bayern Munich. At Bayern, after the first three months, we were sixth or seventh and we were third in our Champions League group.

“We had to win at Juventus and did – that was the turning point. Now United have me, a new manager, so new chances for the players. But we have to create a way of playing that isn’t the same as before, and that’s difficult for them.

“They have to perform under pressure and have a to decide [what to do with the ball] within one second, and that is not easy.”

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