The British-record signing failed to make an impact at Old Trafford on Saturday, extending his run without a league goal to 14 games, and was replaced by Adnan Januzaj at the break.
United subsequently struck twice in the second half, Wayne Rooney grabbing both goals, to pick up all three points in the race for a Champions League place, moving back up to third place.
Although Van Gaal believes the result vindicated his decision to withdraw the Argentine, he is confident he just needs time to adapt to the rigours of English football.
"I want to win as a manager. I have to observe and analyse and I have to make steps necessary to win," explained the Dutchman after the game.
"I always thought in theory that I would change Angel for Januzaj and we were better in the second half so I cannot say it was a wrong decision.
"The difficulty, not only for Angel, is that players have to adapt to the Premier League. The rhythm of the game is so high – a lot higher than in other countries – so we need to give him to time to adapt and lift his confidence again.
"He is a human being and you can make mistakes but he shall overcome this period I hope."
Van Gaal also explained his decision to withdraw Radamel Falcao and replace him with Marouane Fellaini, despite the Colombian striker’s positive involvement in winning the penalty which opened the scoring.
"I was very pleased with his action for the penalty, but I have to win and I thought at that moment we need to keep the ball more and with Fellaini it is easier to keep the ball."
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