Louis van Gaal has admitted he may require three years to make Manchester United a major domestic and European force again, with the manager confident he will be given the necessary time despite David Moyes being sacked less than a season into a six-year contract.
United have only 13 points from the opening 10 matches, their poorest yield since the 1986-87 campaign.
“It’s not good enough,” he said. “I feel very lousy for the fans in the first place and also the board because they have a great belief in me, my staff and my players. When you have 13 points from 10 matches you aren’t doing well but we are in a process.”
Having previously said that a year may be required to return the 20-times champions to the top, he now believes it could take all three years of his contract.
The process
“I said from the beginning when we won every game in the United States that the process shall take more than one year – it will take three years, I hope, because that is always dependent on a lot of things.”
Van Gaal hopes United, who have not won a match since October 5th, may soon click, although he suggested it may not be until February that the side start performing consistently.
“It is a process.. . I cannot say when the results are coming. When I did it with Bayern Munich it was 8 December but it could be 1 February here, but it doesn’t matter because it is a three-year process. .”
Despite Moyes’s removal, Van Gaal is confident he has time on his side. “That is based on . . . the belief in yourself and the players and the staff. . .”
United are 10th and four points off fourth position but Van Gaal said qualifying for next season’s Champions League is a priority.
“Of course, our goal is to do that. For sure. It is a process. You can say players have to do that and this, but it doesn’t work in this world,” he said.
Van Gaal again pointed to how he is training players’ brains and he is sure that when this approach is complete United will be better than any other team. “That is what I am doing and that is what I have always done in all my clubs,” he said.
“You can listen to what the boards of other clubs have said about me.”
Van Gaal added that he does not know when Radamel Falcao will return from his calf injury but said at Marcos Rojo should return from injury in less than six week. Michael Carrick may be asked to play in central defence against Crystal Palace today. Phil Jones and Jonny Evans are injured while Chris Smalling is suspended. Guardian Service
