SPORTS: Van Gaal admits information overload

Louis Van Gaal

The Dutchman has endured a miserable set of results since replacing David Moyes, all the positivity from pre-season having disappeared after they took just five points from their first five Premier League matches.

Van Gaal has overseen a series of changes on and off the pitch, and has been at pains to implement his 'philosophy' on the squad, but although he insists they will be of benefit in the long-run he accepts things might have moved too quickly.
"We give (the players) a lot of information and you have to work out that information," said the United manager, whose side face West Ham on Saturday looking to rebound from the shocking 5-3 loss at Leicester.
"There shall be a moment in the season that this information is not too much. At this moment maybe it is too much for the players.
"It's very difficult because we are starting with a new team and a new relationship between players so that's why it needs time."
But van Gaal has defended his transfer policy, which has come under fire from the likes of Ruud Gullit and Gary Neville in the last week.
Criticism has centred on his decision to bring in a host of attacking players while only adding Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw to a defence that lost the experience Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand since the end of Moyes' reign.
"Maybe we were at the market in August for a right-sided central defender," Van Gaal added. "You never know. But I don't want to discuss that.
"My concern is never the age of the experience, my concern is the profile. You have to fit the profile. There are a lot of defenders in this world, but I don't want to buy (just) any defenders.
"Age is not so important. With the Dutch national team I played with Bruno Martins Indi and Stefan de Vrij, they were 21 and 22.
"And until Leicester we only had three goals against in spite of the fact we were not playing so well but our defensive organisation was good."