Louis van Gaal ready and excited for Manchester United challenge #TheElitePartyinJuly #IRepEntertain9jarBlog #TwitterTrendBlog via @myentertain9jar

LOUIS VAN GAAL will officially take over as Manchester United manager on Wednesday insisting he doesn't need a holiday first.

Louis van Gaal is eager to crack on with his new job at Manchester United[AFP]

And he hopes to instil the same team spirit in the United team that helped unfancied Holland to take third place in the World Cup.

Arjen Robben, however, will not be joining him at Old Trafford because he is happy at Bayern Munich, despite the best efforts of his former national manager.

Van Gaal, 63, will immediately step up United's interest in Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, Borussia Dortmund centre-back Mats Hummels and Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria and says the last thing he wants is a holiday when he lands back in Holland today after the 3-0 win over hosts Brazil in the third-place play-off on Saturday.

He will have just two days off before flying to Manchester on Wednesday to launch his three-year contract with United, then jet off with his new squad on Friday for their pre-season tour in the USA. But he is relishing the challenge and can't wait to get started.

"That is no problem for me, I don't need a holiday," he said. "It's great to have such an exciting challenge. To work daily with young people is something that I don't need time off to rest for.

"I'm looking forward to it. I've only met two people from the daily management at the club - the chief scout and the chief executive officer. And I've met two of the owners. It's time that I get to know more people at the club.

"I hope the group in Manchester will become like this one. We have to sing from the same hymnsheet.

"I hope at Manchester United I can do my best. I will do my best. Whether that's enough for the fans I will wait and see, but I genuinely hope that will be the case."

Van Gaal, who turns 63 early next month, revealed he had asked Robben if he was interested in joining him at Old Trafford but Holland's star player told him he wants to stay in Germany.

"I have a special bond with Louis," said Robben. "He is the most important coach in my career. But moving to United is not an option. I will stay at Bayern Munich."

Van Gaal defended his tactics in the face of some implied criticism from his successor, former Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, that he had abandoned Holland's traditional 'total football' for a more pragmatic approach in Brazil. And he says his team's run to the semi-finals showed there was more than one "Dutch" way of playing the game. "The next coach of the team, I heard him say he wants the Dutch way of playing football," said Van Gaal. "I have always played the Dutch way and I also gave it something else. "Perhaps this will open everyone's eyes in the Netherlands and make people realise there's not just one system. "We were able to show a kind of football that is rather novel, in the Netherlands at least, with players who cooperate so well. A coach has to work based on the quality of his squad and it worked out apart from the fact that we are not world champions but really we were very, very close." Robben, a contender for the player of the tournament award, admitted the Dutch had surpassed expectations after goals from Robin van Persie (penalty), Daley Blind and Georginio Wijnaldum had piled on the misery for Brazil in Brasilia. "Nobody expected us to be in the last four," he said. "We fully deserved this third place the way we played this tournament." And Robben, 30, refused to rule out the prospect of playing in the next World Cup in Russia in 2018. "It's four years away, still a very long time so we'll have to wait and see," he added. "As long as I enjoy it and the body functions well I will continue playing for the national teams because it's a big honour."