• Premier League

United going Dutch under Van Gaal

Robin van Persie says Louis van Gaal's Dutch approach is beginning to pay off at Manchester United and guiding them towards a Champions League return.

Van Gaal has guided the team to just two wins from seven matches and has seen his side ship 13 goals since taking over as manager after David Moyes' disappointing 10 months in charge at Old Trafford.

After United's 5-3 defeat at Leicester, Van Persie revealed his manager held a confrontational crisis meeting in order to establish what had gone wrong and the striker claimed such an approach is helping.

"It's very demanding in a good way as you have to be focused every single day of the sessions or the meeting," Van Persie said.

"He wants players to get involved in the meeting too. You have to give your own input, which is what the staff likes. That's a bit of the Dutch thing. Everybody gets involved in the project. We are all working on it.

"Everyone has their own say, which is maybe new for some players but not for me as I know how he works. It's very interesting and very good because we are all pulling on the same rope - as the Dutch say.

"We all have one target, which is to win and win as much as we can. If I look at what I have seen in training and on the pitch in games, I can see that it is getting much better.

"We are improving every day and getting better. Some training sessions are incredible and we are showing that in games as well."

United's stuttering start could be put down to their new-look squad needing time to gel and adapt. Van Gaal spent over £150 million bringing in players such as Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao during the summer transfer window.

And Van Persie claimed that, having missed out on European football this term, the club possess both the right manager and players to lead them back into the Champions League.

"We have to make at least the top four. That's a realistic target but it's still early in the season," Van Persie said.

"We are here, everybody wants to win every game, every training session and even if we are playing a different kind of game like table tennis. We are winners. We are not here just to set low standards. We want them to be as high as possible, winning games and winning trophies.

"This year we have a great manager, great staff, great fans so when you look at everything together it makes it hard [not to be in the Champions League]. Everything is in place to be up there competing with the very best teams. We can do it and we will."

Van Persie said United possess an attack which can frighten their opponents - although they will be without Wayne Rooney for the next three matches after their captain was sent off for violent conduct during the 2-1 victory against West Ham.

Despite that setback, Van Persie insisted confidence is beginning to return at Old Trafford.

Asked if United's firepower can scare other teams, Van Persie said: "I think we can be able to actually do that. If you look at these players, they are great players in their individual way.

"Now we are working together on this project and games like winning 4-0 against QPR help. We had a setback against Leicester but to win in these circumstances like the weekend [against West Ham] sends a message and shows that even in these difficult games we can win. Now we have to extend that.

"The first half was 11 v 11 and we were playing really well as a whole team. Eight minutes later it was 10 v 11 and the whole thing changed, but the way we fought for each other was unbelievable. It was a bit nerve-wracking at times, but we dug in and we did it so it gave us a lot of confidence."

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