Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United players understand his approach

Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United's players are finally starting to understand his philosophy and now have confidence in him.

At the start of his reign, former Netherlands coach Van Gaal asked to be judged after three months and, 90 days after arriving at Old Trafford, his side sit fourth in the Premier League.

However, he admitted that United needed to play better for the full 90 minutes after struggling in the final half an hour of their last three matches and is looking for them to defend better.

He told a news conference: "I think they do understand the philosophy -- but they have to perform that philosophy.

"We have to see if it is going at a higher level because I think we need more balance in the team... not only spectacular attacking football but shape as a team and that you can defend more easily and kill the game better.

"That is also a part of the philosophy but that is also because I am always choosing more creative attacking football players, so we are looking for that balance and we shall see if the time I have had was long enough.

"I have confidence in myself and in my players and I think that is very important, but much [more] important is that the players have confidence in the manager and his staff because I am not doing that alone, I am doing that with the staff."

Van Gaal said he believed United could have done better so far, adding: "When you see [the 2-1 win against] Everton, the last 30 minutes of [the 5-3 defeat to] Leicester, the last 30 minutes of [the 2-1 victory over] West Ham... the last 30 minutes. When you see the first 60 minutes, it is fantastic.

"You can say: 'OK, you are not fit enough,' but that I don't believe so it is other questions so that we are looking for.

"We are looking for that in training sessions but also evaluation sessions and images, and I hope we shall improve."