Ronald Koeman: Manchester United Should Be Closer To Premier League Leaders

Ronald Koeman has laughed off Louis van Gaal's assertion that it could take three years to restore Manchester United to the top of the English game.

Koeman takes his Southampton side to Old Trafford this sunday, knowing that a win would send Saints above their opponents into third place.

United are currently 12 points behind leaders Chelsea, but having spent £150m, Koeman believes his Dutch compatriot has the players to challenge now.

"It's up to him - if he needs two years more, give him two years more," he said.

"Of course maybe he is doing different to other managers but I don't believe that you need two years or one year.

"No - it's all about qualities of the players and they have to do that. And the better the players, the easier it is for the manager."

Asked if United should be closer to Chelsea and Manchester City given the money that has been spent, Koeman said: "In [terms of] individual quality of the players, yes."

Koeman is confident Southampton can better last year's eighth-place finish thanks to the ease of moving from club management on the continent to the Premier League.

"It's an easy answer as a manager to say 'I need time'," he said. "You don't have time in football.

"Okay, you need adaptation of the players, but I think sometimes they are more excuses of the people than to expect something.

"Football is the same in Holland or in Germany. The players are better in Germany and England than we have in Holland, most of the players.

"But my job as a manager is not so different to what I did in the last three years in Feyenoord - it is managing a football club, managing a football team.

"Okay, new players. I have better players than I had in the last three seasons. It has to be easier, that adaptation. It's about the quality of the players."