Scholes says Van Gaal magic touch will lift United by ‘20-25%’

Manchester United have confirmed new manager Louis van Gaal will join up with the club for their full pre-season tour.

A number of their World Cup players, including Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, David de Gea and Shinji Kagawa, as well as new signings Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, will also depart for the United States on July 18.

In Van Gaal’s case, that could be just five days after his involvement at the World Cup in Brazil ends.

The Dutchman is due to take charge at Old Trafford as soon as his commitments with the Netherlands national side are over.

The Dutch have reached the World Cup semi-finals in Brazil and hope to be involved in Sunday’s final in Rio. Even if they lose they will still be playing on Saturday in the third-place play-off.

Rooney’s participation in the World Cup, along with the other England players, came to an end on June 24.

It means they will have had less than four weeks off before beginning pre-season preparations, but their presence will be a boost for Van Gaal as he begins work immediately.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie is not expected to link up with the squad until August.

United play Los Angeles Galaxy on July 23 before games in the International Champions Cup against Roma, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Should they reach the final of that competition — which also features rivals Liverpool and Manchester City — they would play in Miami on August 4.

A United statement read: “Fresh from his exploits at the 2014 Fifa World Cup, new manager Louis van Gaal will be part of the full tour with his first match in charge of United taking place against LA Galaxy in the Chevrolet Cup at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, July 23.

“Many of United’s World Cup players will also be in attendance for the duration of the tour including Wayne Rooney, David de Gea, Shinji Kagawa and Juan Mata.

United legend Paul Scholes believes the Dutchman has a magic touch that will lift United by “20-25%”.

“Right now, Manchester United fans (and myself) cannot wait for Louis van Gaal to get the job started at Old Trafford.

“It’s not a vintage Holland team he’s managing and van Gaal has got them to the brink of a World Cup final.“He’s going to have to perform a similar operation at United.

“Van Gaal seems to have the Midas touch, and with his coaching reputation and vast experience he can bring a lot to the club.

“He’ll improve last year’s performance by 20-25 per cent, I feel.

“As well as the new signings, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, (and hopefully more to come) he’ll bring more out of the players who are already there. I’m actually really excited about next season.”

One of Van Gaal’s most remarkable tactical decisions at the World Cup came when he replaced goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul deep into injury time in Holland’s quarter-final against Costa Rica.

Krul rewarded him by producing two saves in the subsequent penalty shootout to send the Dutch into the last four.

Scholes added: “Krul had only saved two out of last 20 penalties with Newcastle. The evidence did not seem to be there for that big a decision.

“But whatever Louis van Gaal does, seems to work.

“He substituted his captain, Robin van Persie, when Holland were 1-0 down to Mexico, and they came back to win.

“He seems to have a bit of genius about him, and hopefully can work this magic on United next year.”