James Weir has explained why some of Manchester United's players did not see eye to eye with Louis van Gaal.

Following the disappointment of David Moyes' ill-fated reign, the enigmatic Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford in 2014 as one of the most reputable coaches in world football following success with Ajax and Barcelona.

He was backed heavily in the transfer market during his first summer with the club spending £150 million on Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrera, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao, who joined on loan.

However, Van Gaal's rigid philosophy and persistence with a 3-5-2 system infuriated large sections of the Old Trafford faithful who were accustomed to swashbuckling attacks led by exciting wingers.

Van Gaal's only trophy with United came with an FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace in 2016 and he was sacked shortly after and replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney have since praised Van Gaal for his time at United, with the latter describing him as "by far the best coach" he had worked with, while Angel di Maria admitted he had "problems" with the coach during his ill-fated stint.

As a young academy player, Weir won praise from Van Gaal and eventually made his only appearance for United as a late substitute against Arsenal in February 2016. And the 24-year-old says it was Van Gaal's candour which rubbed some of his players the wrong way.

"Van Gaal was definitely different to who I'd worked with before," Weir told Tribalfootball.com.

"Very tactical, a lot of videos and he was just upfront with you. If you trained really well, he'd be like 'you did really good today,' and if you trained bad, he'd be like 'you were rubbish today.' He was that sort of guy, he didn't beat around the bush.

"That's probably why some players didn't see eye to eye to him, but he was a nice guy and would try and have a joke."

Although Weir, now with Pohronie in Slovakia, enjoyed working under Van Gaal, the midfielder admits he wished he was given more of a chance to impress before departing the club in 2016.

"Coming on was a dream come true. To play at Old Trafford with Mum and Dad in the stands. It was amazing.

"To be honest, I would've liked a few more minutes either in that game or afterwards but it just wasn't meant to be, maybe injuries or whatever, I just didn't get the chance."

To read our exclusive interview with Weir about his journey from United to Slovakia, click here.