Klose claims playing under Van Gaal was hardest time of his career

Former Germany striker Miroslav Klose has claimed that the time he spent playing under current Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had been the hardest of his career.

The striker scored only 12 goals in 60 games under Van Gaal at Bayern Munich before leaving in 2011. Klose said that it was a tough time, particularly working with Van Gaal.

Klose, who is Germany's all-time leading scorer with 71 goals, said that he did not feel free, adding that it had been difficult for him to fulfill the Dutchman's expectations, The BBC reported.

Klose added that Van Gaal was asking him to make runs he just couldn't see. He said that he gave it all he could, but sometimes it just wasn't enough.

Since taking over at United, Van Gaal has so far failed to record a Premier League victory in opening games against Swansea City and Sunderland and crashed to a 4-0 Capital One Cup defeat to League One MK Dons.

After leaving Bayern for Italian side Lazio, Klose has scored 41 goals in 101 games in Italy and broken Gerd Muller's scoring record for his country on his way to winning the World Cup last month.

Klose also became the World Cup's record scorer by taking his career tally to 16 goals at his fourth tournament before announcing his international retirement, the report added.