Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal throws his hands up in exasperation and looks slightly offended at the suggestion his style is dictatorial.

‘I decide nothing without talking to my staff, and my staff is very big,’ he is at pains to point out. ‘I am always asking for advice but in the end, I have to take responsibility. It’s logical as I am the only one who shall be fired.’

Even mentioning the managerial F-word indicates this is a different Van Gaal beginning his second Premier League season to the one who walked into Old Trafford with pantomime self-assurance a year ago. At that time, United craved strong leadership following the David Moyes era and Van Gaal breezed in as the solution.

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is desperate to add some pace and creativity to his forward line

Van Gaal has already bolstered his attacking options by bringing in Holland international Memphis Depay

Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao have both moved on to pastures new since the end of last season

Argentina ace Angel di Maria is also heading for the Old Trafford exit door after just one season at the club

He could not open his mouth without mentioning the trophies he had won at Barcelona and Bayern Munich or the superstars he had created at Ajax.

Nobody is suggesting the 63-year-old Dutchman has suddenly turned into a shrinking violet. Yet in his last major interview before United start their campaign against Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime, Van Gaal appears more reflective and vulnerable.

Once again, he repeats a little frustratedly: ‘We’re not on schedule to be champions because we need speed and creativity at the front.

‘Whether we can win the title [in the next two seasons] is dependable if we can buy players with speed and creativity.

‘You shall always be compared with other clubs. Barcelona without Neymar and Messi, their speed and creativity, they have Pedro behind. Bayern Munich: Ribery and Robben. After that they can change with Muller and they also had Shaqiri [now at Inter Milan] at other times.

'Chelsea have Hazard, Willian, Oscar — that is speed and creativity. [Ashley] Young had a great season. [Juan] Mata also. But they don’t have the speed of Hazard or Robben. We have to improve our selection in that way.’ No doubt, last season has left a few bruises on a personal and professional level.

A wretched start of 13 points in 10 games, criticism over playing Wayne Rooney in midfield and question-marks over his relationship with assistant Ryan Giggs were all unwanted distractions to the famous Van Gaal ‘philosophy’ being laid down.

On a positive note, United did rebound well to finish in the top four mainly through their results against the rest of the top six, including a noteable win at Arsenal and a well-received double over Liverpool.

Pedro could replace PSG target Di Maria at Man United after falling down the pecking order at Barcelona

Van Gaal is jealous of the fact that Pep Guardiola is able to call on Arjen Robben (left) and Franck Ribery

Guardiola can change things up by playing Thomas Muller instead of Robben or Ribery, says Van Gaal

Van Gaal ended his debut campaign going viral with an ‘emotional’ speech at the club’s end-of-season awards party but he has been put on the back foot again this pre-season by transfer sagas involving record signing Angel di Maria and goalkeeper David de Gea.

No glamorous new striker has arrived to replace the departed Robin van Persie or Radamel Falcao but three key signings have been made: £25million holding midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton, exciting Dutch forward Memphis Depay who was part of Van Gaal’s Dutch World Cup squad in 2014 and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who won in Brazil with Germany.

Yet Van Gaal is no mood to appear a braggard. ‘The hardest decisions are always which players you buy and which have to go. We know the Premier League is different to all the other leagues and players have to adapt,’ he says. ‘We’ve signed Depay. He was chosen as the most talented young player at the World Cup and is highly intelligent, but he has to cope with the rhythm of the Premier League. I have confidence in that but we have to wait and see. It is not clear yet.

‘The same thing is for Schweinsteiger. OK, he is a world champion and with Bayern Munich a Champions League winner. But the Bundesliga is different to the Premier League, here it is a higher rhythm and more pressure on the ball. He can see a challenge in that, that is why he is here.’

Van Gaal has not been afraid to criticise Bastian Schweinsteiger's pre-season displays following his move

The Germany captain shows off Manchester United's new adidas kit along with Juan Mata and Ander Herrera

Schweinsteiger’s form in pre-season has been underwhelming and the manager hasn’t pretended otherwise, describing one performance as ‘bad’.

Explaining why he’d gone public with criticism of a big name, Van Gaal said: ‘We have to play like a team. Like everyone else, the stars, so-called stars, have to know what is expected of them.What Schweinsteiger has won, that is in the past. Top sport is only about what is in the present. You have to prove yourself every time.

‘I don’t treat players any differently if they are big names or if they are young. I look at the characteristic of the player first, then I can decide my approach towards that player.

‘The first six months last season were very difficult for the players, they weren’t doing things as I wanted. So I gave a lot of criticism and it was difficult to accept for them because I don’t think managers were doing that to the same amount.

Van Gaal has splashed the cash on Morgan Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Matteo Darmian and Depay

Sergio Romero has been brought in on a free transfer due to uncertainty over David de Gea's future

‘I communicate everything so the players know everything from me first, even transfers. After that I tell the media. There is not much difference to what I tell the players to what I tell the media and that is sometimes a problem as I say too much!’

What binds Van Gaal’s individual style with the traditions of United is his assistant Giggs. With his 13 Premier League titles, the Welshman views himself and is viewed by others as a custodian for the club’s great traditions. At times, it has been hard for him to hide his feelings at some of the things that have happened post-Sir Alex Ferguson. At the same time, it isn’t realistic in 2015 to try to find 11 kids from Salford to challenge Real Madrid or even Manchester City.

Van Gaal stresses he enjoys the complicated role of mentoring a legend and has some encouraging words for Giggs and his future prospects as a manager.

Van Gaal insists Red Devils assistant Ryan Giggs has the credentials to become a top manager

The Manchester United boss takes advice from Giggs, Albert Stuivenberg (right) and Frans Hoek (far left)

‘Ryan is a hard worker and that is special as ex-players are not mostly hard workers because everything is prepared for players in the top clubs,’ he said. ‘He reads the game very well and is also learning now the training methods and being in front of the group to explain things. I think he is doing rather well. He can at the end be a manager, he can succeed me.

‘Always in details, you have agreements and disagreements. It is always like that. But I don’t think we have a lot of disagreements. I think it is fantastic to work with him.

‘I would say Giggs is my right hand and Albert Stuivenberg [assistant coach] my left. Frans Hoek [goalkeeping coach] is also my right and left hand for the goalkeepers. I will ask them for advice all the time, and to my press officer, and to other staff. OK, I have to decide in the end!'

Giggs will be in the dug-out alongside Van Gaal next weekend when the 2015-16 circus gets underway. United need a better result that the corresponding fixture a year ago, when they were beaten at home by Swansea City and were left playing catch-up for the rest of the campaign.

Van Gaal believes his defenders can once again deal with the threat of Harry Kane during their league opener

The former Holland national team manager has labelled Tottenham's Kane a 'great player' and 'a great talent'

They won’t fail to notice Harry Kane walking out in the Tottenham line-up. The 31-goal striker is exactly the type of homegrown youngster United would love to see rise through the ranks of their club and it wasn’t a surprise that they tested the water this summer to see if there was any chance of the centre forward moving to Old Trafford [there wasn’t!].

‘I think he is a great player, a great talent, but he didn’t touch one ball against us last season,’ said Van Gaal. ‘At home against Tottenham we played our best match, more or less, of the season. He couldn’t show his qualities but I have seen, of course, other games where he has shown his qualities.’