By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Manchester United have the wrong manager in Louis van Gaal because the Dutchman does not understand English football, former Old Trafford winger Andrei Kanchelskis told Reuters.

Kanchelskis said United lack leaders on the pitch but now would not be the right time to sack Van Gaal who has come under increasing pressure over the last month.

United have not won any of their last six games, exited the Champions League at the group stage and have lost back-to-back league games against Bournemouth and Norwich to slip down to fifth place in the Premier League.

British media have speculated Van Gaal, who replaced David Moyes last year, could be about to be fired with fans unhappy at the team’s style of play.

“I am disappointed with the way United are playing,” Kanchelskis, who won the Premier League with United in 1993 and 1994, said in a telephone interview.

“Under Alex Ferguson, we played in a more attacking style of football and played in a 4-4-2. Van Gaal sees things differently. This is not a head coach for Manchester United.

“I just don’t think that Van Gaal understands English football. A team needs to have leaders, like Bryan Robson, Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel, who can give the right things at the necessary moment and can show their leadership qualities.

“The coach does not want this and this is the reason for such disastrous results.”

Despite being highly critical of Van Gaal, the 46-year-old believes the Dutchman should remain in the hotseat at least until the end of the season.

“He needs to be given until the end of the season and then a decision should be made,” Kanchelskis, who represented three different national sides, the Soviet Union, the CIS and Russia, said.

“Chelsea have already made a stupid mistake in sacking Mourinho. Manchester City are also close to making the same mistake.”

(editing by Justin Palmer)