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LONDON. — Sir Alex Ferguson has compared the beginning of Louis van Gaal’s Old Trafford reign to his own troubled start at Manchester United and backed the Dutchman to turn the club around.Van Gaal has lost three of his opening eight games in charge after spending more than £150 million on new players to overhaul a squad largely built by Ferguson.

The Scot took three-and-a-half years to win his first trophy at United after the board refused to bow to pressure to sack him, and he is in no doubt that Van Gaal will receive the same support now even though his predecessor David Moyes was axed after just 10 months in charge.

“He’s not been getting the results that are expected but when I came to the club I didn’t get the results I expected myself at the beginning,” Ferguson told MUTV.

“What we needed then was Sir Bobby Charlton, Martin Edwards and the board to stick by me and we had a great spell after that.
“Once I got settled into the club, everything was fine. Louis is going through that same process and there’s no doubt in my mind that he will sort it out.”

Ferguson revealed that Van Gaal has not sought him out for advice since taking over in the summer, adding: “There’s no ongoing dialogue. He comes into my office sometimes after the game, into the lounge, and we have a chat.

“But it’s not a matter of picking up a phone or anything like that. He’s a very capable person with a strong mentality. He’s a strong leader. He knows where I am if he ever did need me but there has not been any need for him to phone me.”

The 72-year-old played a prominent role in appointing Moyes and was then criticised for being too high profile at United games, casting a shadow over his successor as he struggled to get to grips with the magnitude of the job.

Asked if he is annoyed at how that has been portrayed, he said: “There’s a bit of that. I haven’t been to every game, obviously. I’ve missed a couple this season already but I’ve been to a few of them and I continue to do that.

“The way I’ve always been and I did it as a manager, I’m actually quite stone-faced watching a game. I don’t try to show any emotions unless we score. I always celebrate a goal, even now as a director I still celebrate a goal. You’re always conscious maybe the cameras are on you and this is happening quite a lot.

“I got annoyed when we lost to Liverpool last year. I didn’t enjoy that. I don’t like losing to Liverpool and Manchester City last year, because they are your biggest rivals and the ones you always strive to defeat and are always in our way. Particularly Liverpool of course.”

The breakup of Ferguson’s squad, in particular the £16m sale of Danny Welbeck to Arsenal, and spending on headline signings like Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao has raised concerns that United have betrayed their roots of bringing young players through their academy. Ferguson’s old No. 2 Mike Phelan even suggested that Welbeck’s departure was a sign that the club’s “identity has been broken”.

But Ferguson backed Van Gaal’s restructuring and praised the new manager for giving the likes of Tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair, Jesse Lingard and James Wilson an opportunity in the English Premier League.

“What has pleased me about Louis is he’s given seven young kids their debuts this year which falls into line with the history of our club, there’s no question about that,” he added.

“I think that’s exactly what Louis van Gaal believes in too. I think the greatest example is how he produced at Ajax to win the European Cup with all players created by Ajax themselves. Edwin van der Sar was in goal, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert. Some fantastic players — all produced by the club.

“Obviously Louis has made a lot of changes and I was thinking about that actually. Maybe he’s doing the right and correct thing, to clear the decks and build his own team, because he’s got the experience and the coaching ability to do that. And he’s got the reputation to do that. I think the way he’s approached is, I think, brilliant.

“It’s the rebuilding of the team and they brought in some good quality. It was really important because you need quality at Manchester United, you need the best players.

“I think when you can identify ability like that needed by Manchester United, they have the resources to do that. They are fees I never quite equalled but nonetheless they were needing quite a big injection this year.

“(Ander) Herrera played against us three years ago for Bilbao in the Europa League.” — Mailonline.