Of course his approach was less direct than Guardiola's. Van Gaal's tactics were a lot more limiting in movement and risk taking. Besides Robben's cut in and shoot as much as he wants thing, everyone was more focused on keeping the ball than on creating something. The biggest problem was that van Gaal had absolutely no defensive concept that allowed risk taking, which meant we were endlessly passing the ball between defensive midfield and centerbacks. We were playing a high defensive line without pressing, so losing the ball meant our opponents could counterattack into open space with no chance for our defenders to interfere. It was a horror show often enough.
Pretty much every player is much more confident on the ball under Guardiola, even fullbacks are allowed to dribble and take risks, because the moment we lose the ball, the whole team instantly switches to pressing and winning the ball back. That's why we can keep up having crazy high possession stats while also playing a lot more direct and entertaining. Yeah, there's the odd game where it doesn't work and it's still risky against excellent counterattacking sides, but it's a much more balanced and entertaining approach to possession football than van Gaal's.