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Schweinsteiger backs Van Gaal philosophy at Manchester United

By Tyrone McGarthland

Credit: BeIN Sports
Credit: BeIN Sports /
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Manchester United Bastian Schweinsteiger has backed Louis van Gaal to succeed at Old Trafford and has praised the Dutchman for influencing the side on how they play their football.

United are now a side who dominate possession and Schweinsteiger is happy about that after enjoying a strong spell with the 64 year-old at Bayern Munich.

The German international only moved to the Premier League in the summer but the reason for doing so was Van Gaal, with the United boss personally speaking to him about his plans at the club. Schweinsteiger has been a legend in the game for many years and cemented his legacy with a World Cup victory last year with Germany.

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That experience has now followed him to England and he has been a regular in the side for United this season. And Van Gaal will be hoping the German stays fit with a busy Christmas period coming up.

United are currently fourth in the league table and only two points off top spot and Schweinsteiger believes that Van Gaal is improving the side and should be given time.

"“I recognise similarities between Louis van Gaal here and at Bayern Munich,” Schweinsteiger said. “In Munich, it took a while before the team understood exactly how we wanted to play football. But in the end we won the Bundesliga title and made it to the Champions League final.“You have to be patient. But, of course, during that you have to win, you have to get results and you have to score. I think we are in a good way. We can improve but the team spirit here is great.“It is not about October or November – it is about May. I am sure Louis will bring success to United. I am convinced that will happen but we have to do our work and we have to improve.”"

United have been good this season but that has mainly been in defence with the side keeping plenty of clean sheets. In attack however, the Red Devils have failed to score goals and that could be a problem in the big games.

Youngster Anthony Martial is United’s best goal threat but he is currently playing on the wing. And Schweinsteiger has noticed that United haven’t been that great in the final third and has called on the side to improve against sides who get men behind the ball.

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"“It is difficult to play against teams with the kind of defensive strategy West Brom had but I think we did well offensively,” the Germany midfielder continued.“When you are playing a team who defend with 10 men, it is not easy to find the gaps. There is still room for improvement but we did improve on breaking a team down, and we didn’t give many chances away.“It is not exclusive to England,” he continued. “In Munich in the league or the Champions League it was exactly the same. Bayern drew 0-0 recently against Frankfurt because Frankfurt were defending with a lot of players. It happens but you have to find solutions and this is where we can still improve to make it easier for ourselves.“Football is not only about attack. There are teams with different game styles and they also win titles. But I think especially in home matches we have to press and go forward.“It is very important we win our matches at the moment because the league is very tight. And it was important to go into the international break with a win because the last two times were not very nice.”Next: Smalling praises Manchester United defence?"

Most of the United players are on international duty while some will remain with the squad to train with Van Gaal.

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