London, Sep 10 (IANS): Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand feels his old club is nowhere near regaining the English Premier League (EPL) title, or the intense attacking brand of football which former head coach Alex Ferguson instilled.

The former defender was scathing in his assessment of head coach Louis van Gaal's vaunted philosophy, unleashing several criticisms about the current state of affairs.

"Everything, In terms of players, the personnel and the way they play are completely different. You associate United with pace and power, explosive fantasy in the final third, but that's not the way it is now," Ferdinand was quoted as dailymail.co.uk on Thursday.

"Man United fans are having to re-educate themselves on how you go in there and what you're going to see. You're not going to see what you saw for the last 25 years. It will be a completely different type of football, not football I enjoy watching as much and probably most Man United fans are like that. It's methodical and really slow going side to side whereas before it was 'bang, go'."

Reflecting on Dutchman van Gaal's philosophy of coaching, he said: "He (Van Gaal) has got a clear idea of how he wants the team to play. It's very methodical, getting the ball through the team not very quickly, keeping the ball from side to side and waiting for an opening and the time to come for a glaring opportunity to go forward."

However, it is an approach which has so far failed to ignite their domestic campaign and with just three goals scored in four games, Ferdinand feels it will cause them problems.