Xavi has faith in Van Gaal

Cape own - Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has received the backing of former Barcelona midfielder Xavi. 

Manchester Evening News report that Xavi believes the under-fire manager will do "a great job" at Old Trafford.

Van Gaal has come in for criticism after failing to turn off the field spending into on-field results as the Red Devils continue to stutter in the Premier League.

Now into his second season at Manchester United, Van Gaal was attacked by former Barcelona midfielder Hristro Stoichkov.

Stoichkov said Van Gaal is "a bad man" who is destroying Manchester United.

Xavi has defended Van Gaal - who coached the Spanish legend in two spells at Barcelona - and thinks that United will be contenders in both domestic and European competitions with Van Gaal at the helm.

"They criticise him on a human level because he is very direct or because he seems arrogant." said Xavi.

"He was ahead of his time back then. He worked to perfect the training sessions and improve the team technically and tactically. Twenty years ago he was a very complete coach.

"In time he will do a very good job at Manchester United. He will make them very strong in the Premier League and in the Champions League. He will do a great job."

Van Gaal's next test will be a home league clash against Liverpool - a true test of his side's development and title credentials.

Liverpool visit the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday. The match kicks off at 18:30.