Steve McClaren: I want to be like Man Utd boss Louis van Gaal

Steve McClaren says his philosophy will win through in the end

STEVE McCLAREN believes he will make it though the 'painful times' at Newcastle by following in Louis van Gaal's footsteps.

 

The former England coach is yet to win a Premier League game since taking charge in the north east.

And after suffering Capital One Cup humiliation to Sheffield Wednesday this week, the club were 'close to crisis'.

 

However, the Newcastle board have rallied behind the new boss and McClaren is adamant his new style will win through in the end, like Van Gaal's.

"You can't rush the process," said McClaren, who hosts Chelsea on Saturday Night (5.30pm).

 

"We'd like to, but you can't do that. I'm a big admirer of Louis van Gaal. 

"I've followed him into Holland, I've followed him into Germany and now into the Premier League.

"I remember in Holland when he was at AZ Alkmaar, I joined Twente and he was getting a lot of stick at the beginning of the season because they had had a bad season the previous one, and the first two games, three games, he lost.

 

"They said, 'If he doesn't win the next game, he's going to be sacked'. He won the next game, stuck by his philosophy and went on a 22-game run, won the league.

"He went to Germany, where I followed him at Wolfsburg, and the previous season - I watched it - Bayern Munich, exactly the same, struggled, change in philosophy, change in the German way of playing to a more possession-based.

 



Steve McClaren says he'll turn things around like Louis van Gaal



"I remember in November, I went to Juventus and I was reading, 'If they lose in Juventus, he'll get the sack'. They won 4-1, they never lost another game and won the German League.

"And I have seen him come into the Premier League last season and say at the very beginning he would get it right, his philosophy. It takes time when you have a philosophy.

"We have one here and we are sticking to it, and we know if we do the process right and we go through painful times, which we have to, when it gets right, it will be very good."