Louis van Gaal has received the backing of Manchester United legend Alex Ferguson as the Dutchman seeks to emulate the former Old Trafford boss.

Ferguson won 38 trophies during his 27 years at the helm and retired in 2013 having built a reputation as one of the game's greatest managers.

He keeps a watchful eye over his former club and likes what he sees in Van Gaal, a former adversary in Champions League contests against Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

"Every manager is different anyway," Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"We all have our different philosophies and beliefs. We have different ways of doing things, the way we pick teams and how we look at the qualities of players.

"Louis has got a great background with Bayern Munich and Barcelona. He's got the pedigree there's no doubt about that.

"I love his press conferences. They are brilliant. I can see some of the press guys twitching in their seats as he answers some of the questions.

"He's got the confidence to deal with that.

"He's got the experience. He knows how to handle these things.

"It's going to take time because everyone is different. Taking over from myself it's going to take time to get his team on the pitch."

Van Gaal got the job after Ferguson's immediate successor, David Moyes, was given the boot, with Ryan Giggs having briefly taken the reins.

Ferguson oversaw Giggs' transition from youth-team prospect to world-class talent and believes the Welshman will carve out a career in management.

"Ryan Giggs is eventually going to be a great manager – he has intelligence, presence and knowledge," the 73-year-old wrote in his new book.