Premier League: Four reasons for Man United's ascent

Man United have won four from four with Michael Carrick starting

Man United are fourth and heavily odds-on for Champions League qualification. Michael Lintorn assesses why...

Louis van Gaal may be 13 Premier League titles behind Sir Alex Ferguson, but he is at least now officially better than David Moyes.

The Dutchman's critics were keen to point out that his Premier League figures were worse than those of "The Chosen One" during Man United's underwhelming start. However, four successive victories have now put him three points clear of his predecessor's 14-match tally of 22 points.

Far more significantly, the 20-time champions' impressive form has lifted them to fourth. They are two points clear of Arsenal and five ahead of the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham and on course to meet their primary season objective of Champions League qualification at 1.444/9 for a top-four finish.

How have things turned around so quickly? These are four of the main reasons...

The LVG cycle
People were panicking when Man United reached the five-game checkpoint with just five points and the 10-fixture mark with a still-below-par 13, but van Gaal remained calm, noting that it always takes a few months for teams to adapt to his ideas. Recent results suggest that has indeed been the case. Bayern Munich for example won a mere five of their opening 13 Bundesliga outings under him before embarking on a nine-match winning streak and going on to finish first by five points.

Carrick proving his worth
Michael Carrick somehow only made the standby list for England's World Cup squad, yet nobody is questioning his value to Man United. Having sat out close to three months following ankle surgery, during which time the Red Devils triumphed just three times in 11 games, his return to the starting line-up has triggered a run of four wins in a row. His calmness and ball retention are a priceless asset regardless of whether he is deployed in midfield or, as has happened on occasions, at the back.

Old Trafford is no longer cursed
The fact that Man United were kept waiting until late November for their first away success of the campaign was rightly criticised, though that has been soothed by a drastic improvement at home. They lost seven Premier League encounters at Old Trafford last term - their highest total in 40 years - winning just nine of their 19, and an opening-day defeat to Swansea hinted at more of the same in 2014/15. Instead, they have earned 19 points from a possible 21 since, only failing to beat Chelsea.

They aren't conceding too often
Van Gaal's men conceded ten times in five fixtures between the second half of September and October, having already leaked twice at home to Swansea and four times at MK Dons in the Capital One Cup. By contrast, they have been breached only three times in the latest five, once when down to ten men and another courtesy of a 90th-minute consolation.

Besides greater cohesion and structure, it isn't obvious what has inspired such a noticeable upgrade. David de Gea has been superb, but this has been true all season to date. Whatever the cause, it is encouraging given the circumstances that they have confronted, like being forced to field youngsters Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair at centre back against Arsenal, or Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia as full backs since then.