Saturday 5 December 2015 14:47, UK
Former Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune has urged supporters to be patient with Louis van Gaal's playing style and insists the club could achieve "something special" when things start to click.
United sit one point behind Premier League leaders Manchester City but their recent 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven was their fifth goalless stalemate of the season and Van Gaal's cautious approach has attracted criticism.
Fortune, who scored 11 goals in 126 appearances for United between 1999 and 2006, admits Van Gaal's style is a far cry from the attacking football played under Sir Alex Ferguson, but he is encouraged by what he has seen and expects them to improve as the campaign continues.
"The criticism is a little unfair because it's impossible to live up to Sir Alex Ferguson, their greatest manager," said Fortune, who was speaking to Sky Sports to launch a Premier League Anti-Touting awareness campaign. "It's a different style compared to what we are used to, but he mentioned when he arrived that he was going to do it his way and we have to expect that. The style is not what fans expect at United but you have to be patient.
"He's a manager who likes to work with young players, as you can see at the moment, and he just needs a bit of time because put it all together. If you look at the season there are games when it has clicked. For example, against Everton we played really well and we saw some signs of what he's capable of doing.
"I'm waiting for everything to click. Once it clicks, we are going to see something really special. To be in the position we are in at the moment and not playing well, that's a good sign. I expect United to kick on in the second part of the season and get stronger.
"Van Gaal has got experience he's done it at other clubs," he added. "I actually spoke to one of his ex-players, Jari Litmanen, and he mentioned that when he played under Van Gaal at Ajax he was probably the best manager in the world."
Fortune believes Van Gaal is laying the foundations for long-term success at Old Trafford, and cites his work at Bayern Munich between 2009 and 2011 as an example.
"If you look at the success of Bayern Munich at the time he was there and the success they are having now under Pep Guardiola, that is all part of Van Gaal's work as well, when he introduced [Frank] Ribery and [Arjen] Robben on the wings," he said. "I think Van Gaal is trying to find the best formula for the team to win."
Wayne Rooney has also come in for criticism this season having scored just twice in 12 Premier League appearances, but Fortune, who played with the striker for two years after his arrival from Everton in 2004, says his former team-mate is more focused on his captaincy duties.
"Now that he is the captain, the leader, I think Wayne is probably more concerned with making sure everyone else is doing their job," he said. "It's almost like sacrificing his own game to make sure the team wins.
"It's not about him scoring anymore. He's at a different time in his career where he's got a few years behind him now. He's got more of a sensible role now whereas before he used to do everything: tackle, defend, attack, score goals.
"He's more experienced and more sensible about his game now. He's still very clever in terms of his movement, but he's playing a new role where he is probably not getting as many chances as he wants or scoring as many goals as he wants.
"But I played under Roy Keane and captains always sacrifice themselves and their own game to make sure the team wins. It's best to judge him at the end of season by what we win and where we end up in the league. The responsibility of the captain is to make sure he leads the team. Of course we all want to see him score more goals but for me it looks like he's sacrificing that for the team."
Quinton Fortune is supporting the Premier League Anti-Touting campaign. For more great tricks with Ben Hanlin and advice for fans where to buy official tickets, head to http://bit.ly/1LLg9xn #DontGetTricked
