Four wins on the spin, a place in the top four... Louis van Gaal and Manchester United would have settled for that in December after failing to beat Swansea City, Sunderland, MK Dons and Burnley in their opening matches.

Here are 10 reasons why United are on the march again.

Manchester United celebrated a fourth win a row against Stoke City on Tuesday

United have transformed their home form after defeat against Swansea City at the start of the season

1. LVG'S NO-THRILLS PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED

The chant from United fans last season 'Come on David Moyes, play like Fergie's boys' was cringeworthy because Moyes was tactically nothing like Ferguson; Moyes built on a strong defence, Ferguson was more daring as befitted United's tradition.

Van Gaal is different from both of his predecessors, he likes to control games through possession and build up pressure rather than go for the throat as Old Trafford fans have been used to.

The funny thing is because of last season's sobering experience, the players – and supporters – have bought into Van Gaal's methods, even if they aren't what they've been used to.

Louis van Gaal has seen his side break into the Champions League places after four wins in a row

Van Gaal was in good spirits after beating Stoke and even posed for selfies with fans

VIDEO Van Gaal displeased despite victory over Stoke

The absence of midweek European games has meant LVG has been able to repeat drills on the training ground and encourage his philosophy.

If United struggle in the first half, as they did against Stoke on Tuesday night, there is no terrace mutiny as there may have been when Moyes was in charge.

It might not be thrilling, United have only scored more than three goals once - in a 4-0 win against QPR - whereas in Fergie's final title-winning season the team had hit four against Wigan, Stoke, Chelsea and Reading by this time of the year. But it's working.

2. THE ROONEY CAPTAINCY GAMBLE HAS PAID OFF

It was a risk to name Wayne Rooney as skipper because Louis van Gaal has often said the captain sets the template for the whole team and is the one player who is virtually undroppable.

Van Gaal arrived in England unsure that Rooney had the maturity to pull it off - remember on the pre-season tour in America, Darren Fletcher led the team out even when Rooney played.

Wayne Rooney has led by 'example' after being handed the captain's armband by Van Gaal

But Rooney's determination to be a good citizen and work hard in training every day – something Sir Alex Ferguson complained about – persuaded Van Gaal to give the 29-year-old the responsibility of being United captain, and so far he hasn't put a foot wrong.

Through a difficult period for the club in terms of injuries and loss of confidence, Rooney has been, in Van Gaal's words, 'an example' to the rest.

Even when he foolishly got sent off against West Ham, Rooney apologised immediately and there were no after-effects. His personal form has also been good and he is the club's leading goalscorer.

3. THE FAMED YOUTH POLICY STILL WORKS

There were fears when huge sums were splashed out in the summer on Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera and others that United had given up believing in their own young players, as they had done in the times of Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson.

However, Van Gaal has picked youngsters, and more importantly they have been good enough to play alongside their illustrious colleagues.

Youngster Tyler Blackett (right) has grabbed his first-team chance at United with both hands

Defenders Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair have been vital to help United overcome their defensive injury crisis and Adnan Januzaj has been heavily involved too.

And even when Van Gaal has had other options, he has shown faith in the youngsters. James Wilson, 19, started against Stoke on Tuesday, even though Van Gaal could have picked Radamel Falcao or a five-man midfield.

Wilson was given a standing ovation when he came off – his movement troubled Stoke all night, and provided the energy that has epitomised United's recent good run.

4. FERGIE'S JUDGEMENT ON DE GEA SPOT-ON

One of Sir Alex Ferguson's qualities was to keep faith in players he saw could improve, even when everyone else was writing them off.

Andy Cole was a great example, derided in his first couple of seasons at Old Trafford, Ferguson refused to contemplate selling him and he became the main striker in United's Treble-winning season.

Spanish star David de Gea has played a major part in United's recent resurgence

So, too, David de Gea. The Spaniard was supposedly too thin, too weak, too quiet to hack it in the English game. Ferguson did leave him out of the firing line on occasions as he was bullied by opposition centre-forwards, but he always believed he would come good.

That judgement has been to Van Gaal's benefit. De Gea brilliantly saved a Leighton Baines penalty against Everton and made a brilliant last-minute stop from Bryan Oviedo to ensure United won.

He was at it again on Tuesday, making outstanding injury-time saves from Biram Mame Diouf and Marko Arnautovic as United got over the line to win 2-1 and keep their run going.

Michael Carrick's return from injury has coincided with United's good run

CARRICK APPEARANCES Manchester City (a): Lost 1-0 Crystal Palace (h): Won 1-0 Arsenal (a): Won 2-1 Hull City (h): Won 3-0 Stoke City (h): Won 2-1 Advertisement

5. THE RETURN OF MICHAEL CARRICK

Van Gaal looked genuinely devastated when he revealed at his Old Trafford unveiling in July that Michael Carrick had been injured in training and would be out for 'a long time'.

For a coach like LVG who wants to dictate matches from midfield, players like Carrick are gold-dust, knowing when to build momentum during games, and when to slow things down.

It is no coincidence that Carrick's return in the last month has seen United embark on their best run of the season.

For all the fortunes spent on Daley Blind and Herrera, he is the first man on the teamsheet in the engine room.

Marouane Fellaini celebrates after breaking the deadlock against the Potters

UNITED'S NEXT FIVE FIXTURES Mon, Dec 8: Southampton (a) Sun, Dec 14: Liverpool (h) Sat, Dec 20: Aston Villa (a) Fri, Dec 26: Newcastle (h) Sun, Dec 28: Tottenham (a) Advertisement

6. CHARACTER AND FIGHT

Manchester United have not been at their flowing best, Stoke manager Mark Hughes noted after his side's midweek defeat that opponents no longer have to contend with 'wave after wave' of attacks at Old Trafford.

But the indomitable spirit is back in the United ranks. The lack of fight in David Moyes' last game, a miserable 2-0 defeat at Everton, has been replaced by players throwing bodies in the way of shots and chasing lost causes in attack.

Herrera illustrated that against Stoke. He never stood still, playing at the top of a midfield diamond in Rooney's absence, switching to the left to set up United's opening goal and then digging in once United were in front.

Even Marouane Fellaini breaks into a sweat these days. It's not always pretty football, but it's winning football.

7. FORTRESS OLD TRAFFORD

The home defeat against Swansea on the opening weekend sent shockwaves around the club. Last season, they lost eight times at home – considered unthinkable at one time – and the worry was Van Gaal wouldn't be able to stem the flow of opponents turning up at Old Trafford fancying their chances.

Gylfi Sigurdsson helped Swansea City to a shock victory at Old Trafford back in August

But Van Gaal has turned the tide. By going back to basics – fielding a dream team of Rooney, Angel di Maria, Falcao, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie has been dismissed by the Dutchman as unrealistic, fantasy football – United's home form is now fantastic.

Since the Swansea game, United have won six of their seven home matches, and drawn the other 1-1 against Chelsea. Those seven games have yielded 15 goals with only four conceded.

Hull City turned up at Old Trafford like lambs to the slaughter on Saturday, just like they would have done when Ferguson was in charge.

Stoke showed a little more attacking intent, but not by much, with van Gaal saying afterwards 'only one team wanted to win'. When teams meet United with such a negative outlook, they invariably lose.

Chris Smalling (left) and Ashley Young (centre) have returned from injury to boost United's options

8. INJURY SITUATION DOWNGRADED FROM CHRONIC TO POOR

Yes, United still have a lot of unavailable players – Di Maria, Blind, Rooney, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Rafael and Jonny Evans sat out the Stoke game.

But look who played having missed large parts earlier in the season; Carrick, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Falcao... Van Gaal has more options than at any other time in the season. Januzaj, whose transfer value must be pushing £30million if United wanted to sell, was an unused substitute.

Recent weeks have also shown that United's squad is stronger than many might suspected. It is hard to imagine even Chelsea and Manchester City doing well if they had to play without all four of their first-choice centre-halves.

Arsenal have had a comparable injury list to United, and haven't coped nearly as well.

9. BIG PERSONALITY FOR A BIG JOB

David Moyes looked visibly haggard whenever United suffered a bad result, as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders.

At one stage, he even admitted not taking off Robin van Persie because he would have received flak for it.

Van Gaal refused to panic despite United's stuttering start to the season

In contrast, Van Gaal has been relaxed even during the bad times, and that faith and belief in his squad has rubbed off on the players, who have in turn turned results around.

Van Gaal is by his own admission 'arrogant', but when he speaks his mind there is always a twinkle in his eye which means there has been precious little confrontation between him and the media, or him and the players.

When Moyes struggled there were reports he had lost certain senior players in the dressing-room such as Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs, while legendary former players Gary Neville and Paul Scholes criticised him on television. That negative vibe hasn't existed this season.

Fellaini was on target in Tuesday night's 2-1 win against Stoke City at Old Trafford

10. YOU ALWAYS NEED A BIT OF LUCK...

Despite all the above factors, it does help when a bit of fortune smiles on you. United were second-best at Arsenal but left The Emirates with a 2-1 win.

Against Stoke, Ashley Young's goal-line clearance from Diouf was a 'hair-breadth' away from being a goal, according to Hughes.

'Give me a lucky general' said Napoleon. Van Gaal has many other qualities too but after a torrid start to the campaign, he's now beginning to get some breaks as well.

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