Winston Bogarde believes Louis van Gaal and Sir Alex Ferguson share similar managerial qualities, with the former defender clear the Dutchman will guide Manchester United to success if given time.

Bogarde played for Van Gaal at Ajax and Barcelona in the 1990s, winning the Champions League and Dutch and Spanish titles under him.

Asked if Van Gaal is similar to Ferguson, Bogarde said: “Yes, he can be quite forceful. He’s the right person for that club. He has the same authority Ferguson had but we have to give him time because Ferguson has been there for many years and he has been successful a lot. And I think Louis van Gaal will be also successful.”

The 44-year-old, who wants a return to football as a manager after his career ended on a sour note following 12 appearances for Chelsea between 2000 and 2004, believes once Van Gaal has assembled the squad he wants, he can oversee the type of football Bogarde once enjoyed. “As I look at the United players, he doesn’t have the players to play that soccer,” said Bogarde. “He wants that but it’s his first season.

“It’s going to take him some time, to adjust to the English way of thinking, English way of soccer, and at the end I think he will be very successful also. Where he’s been in Spain and Holland he’s been successful, also in Germany [at Bayern Munich] – the biggest clubs in the world. So he will be successful there too.”

Describing the 1995 Ajax side which won the Champions League, he added: “It was attacking, dominant pressing forward soccer. It was something new. The system that we played, we played with three defenders in the back, with a lot of space – that was new, also for us. It was his vision and he did a fantastic job to find the right players to put also in the right positions. I learned a lot.”