Van Gaal Close To Picking His Ideal Team

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says he is close to being able to pick his preferred side for the first time this season.

Michael Carrick is the only absentee for United's trip to Swansea on Saturday.

Van Gaal said: "In the first four months I have only been able to select the fit players and, as you know, we have always had 10 or 11 injuries.

"Now, in the last few months we have only one or two players injured, so that is a big difference."

Van Gaal was appointed in May and took over following the World Cup campaign as Netherlands boss last summer.

United lost 2-1 at home to Swansea on the opening day of the season and won only one of their first five Premier League games.

But they have been beaten only once since early November to climb to third place in the table and the Dutchman expects mid-table Swansea to face a different test at the Liberty Stadium.

Changing faces - the Man Utd team beaten by Swansea on the opening day of the season:
De Gea, Blackett, Smalling, Jones, Lingard (Januzaj), Fletcher, Young, Herrera (Fellaini), Rooney, Hernandez (Nani), Mata. Subs: Kagawa, Keane, James, Amos

Changing faces - the Man Utd squad to face Swansea in the return at the Liberty Stadium:
De Gea, Valdes, Shaw, Blackett, Rojo, Smalling, Evans, Jones, McNair, Rafael, Pereira, Young, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Valencia, Januzaj, Di Maria, Mata, Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie, Wilson.

Van Gaal added: "We shouldn't forget a lot of my players in the first match were not there. Marcos Rojo wasn't there, Daley Blind was not there, Angel Di Maria was not there, Luke Shaw was not playing.

"A lot of players didn't play so when I see the line-up against Swansea there are a lot of differences - it's another match."

Here is the best of Van Gaal's news conference:

On losing to Swansea in his first game

"We came from the United States where we had won everything, so that was a big shock at that moment.

"After that we lost a lot of points even though we were the better team, because we couldn't score enough at that time.

"So, I think that match has a big influence on the first matches we had. Now I believe that every player knows the philosophy of me and my staff.

"Everyone wants to follow that philosophy and you can see that in the team spirit of the team which is unbelievable.

"When you see the score of the last 19 or 20 matches we are the best team in the league."

On how United are performing

"I am never 100% happy with the team form, a perfect match you can never play.

"We can play better than we show now, but the main thing is to win your match, not to lose.

"The most important thing is the spirit of the team and we have shown this year a lot of times team spirit and that is very attractive for the fans, but also for the coach, because then you can see a player wants to follow you."