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LVG tries to lower expectations

Cape Town - New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has warned fans not to expect instant success, saying it will take three months for his players to get used to his style and methods.

The Dutchman, brought in following the sacking of David Moyes less than 10 months after taking the job at Old Trafford, is introducing a new 3-4-1-2 formation and increasing the technical demands on his players.

United, who finished outside the European places in seventh last season, play Swansea City, Sunderland and Burnley in their first three Premier League matches but despite a relatively comfortable start, van Gaal warned against immediate success.

"Every club where I have been, I have struggled for the first three months," van Gaal told reporters on the club's pre-season tour in the United States.

"After that, they know what I want, how I am as a human being and also as 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 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."

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