Schweini needs time: Van Gaal

SAN JOSE, US - Louis van Gaal criticised new signing Bastian Schweinsteiger and his Manchester United teammates after the Premier League giants eased to a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes.

United recorded a second straight victory on their United States tour and never really looked troubled against their mid-table opponents from Major League Football.

Juan Mata and man-of-the-match Memphis Depay scored first-half goals for United, before Brazilian youngster Andreas Pereira added a third in the second half.

But United boss van Gaal was furious at the performance of his team after the break when he made 10 changes, including the introduction of Schweinsteiger.

"The first half, I was satisfied - the players have performed what we wanted in the defensive organisation, and they have created a lot of chances, 10, and they scored two goals so I was satisfied," van Gaal said.

"But the second half I thought we played very bad - a lot of ball losses, very unnecessary. The only highlight was the goal from Pereira.

"We didn't give many chances away but we gave possibilities away.

"It was a threat always and that was not necessary.

"Our positions in midfield were not so good as in the first half."

Asked to assess the performance of new signing Schweinsteiger, van Gaal didn't mince his words.

"He was also bad," the Dutchman said, warning it would take time for the German World Cup winner to settle in at United after arriving from Bayern Munich.

"Players can play bad, certainly when you have only three or six days' training session in your legs and you have to play 45 minutes.

"Everybody can think it is easy to step in, but it is not easy. I thought the first match (Schweinsteiger) played very well and now he played bad, but that is also a process."

However, van Gaal would have drawn encouragement from Depay's display, who completed a US$38.9-million (S$53-million) move to Old Trafford last month.

With former United boss Alex Ferguson among an 18,000-capacity sell-out crowd at San Jose's Avaya Stadium, United eased into their attacking stride quickly.

But a largely trouble-free opening 45 minutes was blotted shortly before half-time, as San Jose pulled a goal back through Fatai Alashe.

Shea Salinas embarrassed Morgan Schneiderlin down the right flank, feinting past the midfielder far too easily before picking out Alashe with a low cross to finish past United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

The mass of substitutions at half-time disrupted United's rhythm. But they were soon back in the goal-scoring groove, with Pereira making it 3-1 on 61 minutes.

England Under-21 international Jesse Lingard chipped in a pinpoint cross from the right flank and Pereira lost his marker to steer home past David Bingham.

United will play European champions Barcelona in the International Champions Cup exhibition tournament in Santa Clara on Saturday.