Writing in his column for the Independent, Scholes has tipped Van Gaal to turn the club around but offered his own take on United's defensive troubles.
The Dutchman took Holland to third place in this summer's World Cup using a 3-5-2 formation and has attempted to implement a similar strategy with United in their opening two Premier League games against Swansea and Sunderland, which have yielded just a single point.
Scholes wrote: "Three men at the back doesn't seem to be working for them yet. At the moment United look like they are going to concede goals too often.
"I understand that Van Gaal is trying to make a lot of changes very quickly but the problem is the players don't seem to have adapted comfortably to 3-5-2 yet. It is never easy to make a dramatic tactical change in a short space of time when you are dealing with players who have been drilled to play with a flat back four for many years.
Scholes has likened this week's shock 4-0 loss to MK Dons to another famous upset in the club's history, 1995's 4-3 aggregate loss to York which came despite a 3-1 second-leg win.
"Almost 19 years ago I was part of the Manchester United team that failed to overturn a three-goal deficit in the second round of the League Cup against York City," said the former United midfielder.
"We won 3-1 at Bootham Crescent in the second leg but it was not enough and the experience of being eliminated by a team two divisions below us was terrible.
"I can only imagine that the United players, as well as Louis van Gaal and his staff, will have felt devastated Wednesday morning as they sifted through that 4-0 League Cup defeat to MK Dons."
"This doesn't mean Van Gaal's preference for 3-5-2 is wrong -- change isn't necessarily a bad thing at all and players have a responsibility to trust and believe in their manager's methods."
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