Southampton vs. Manchester United: Louis van Gaal's Key Presser Takeaways

After a tumultuous start to the season, Manchester United seem to be finding their feet under the tutelage of Louis van Gaal. And the Red Devils—currently sitting pretty in fourth place in the Premier League—can take another step towards cementing a Champions League spot when they tackle Southampton on Monday.

Ahead of the game, Van Gaal had mixed news for United supporters. The Dutch boss confirmed to MUTV that club captain Wayne Rooney is fit to play at St. Mary’s, but club-record signing Angel Di Maria remains sidelined:

Even without Di Maria, the Red Devils are well stocked with attacking options. So perhaps it was more encouraging to hear Van Gaal provide positive updates on the fitness of both Jonny Evans and Phil Jones:

Young attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard, who started Van Gaal's first competitive game as manager, is also nearing a return, according to the United boss:

After routine home wins against Hull City and Stoke City in their last two outings, United will face a much sterner test of their credentials in the coming weeks. They face a tantalising match with Liverpool after their trip to the south coast, but Van Gaal was quick to confirm his focus is squarely on the game with Southampton, per Chris Wheeler of the Mail Online:

"

Southampton play better at this moment and have more points than Liverpool so the sequence is good that we have to play Southampton now. What more can I say?

I am always occupied with the first match and that’s Southampton. After the match we can say that but before it is always difficult.

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Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Under the guidance of Ronald Koeman, Southampton have overcome a summer of perpetual turbulence with supreme distinction. They’re currently third in the Premier League table—two points ahead of United—after a magnificent start to the season, but Van Gaal was quick to point out the Red Devils lost just as many players in the summer, per BBC Sport: "Do you know how many players we lost? We have lost more players, but Ronald Koeman is a very good coach and I know that he can do it. It's also surprising a club like Southampton is in that position now but that's down to the coach, players and staff."

United indulged heavily in the summer window to replace primarily a plethora of fringe players that walked out of Old Trafford this summer. So it may not come as a surprise that reports in the press recently have suggested that the Dutchman will be afforded comparable financial luxuries when the window opens ahead of next season, per Mark Ogden of the Daily Telegraph.

But Van Gaal boisterously rubbished any notion of another splurge, insisting it would be disrespectful to his current crop of players, per ESPN.co.uk:

"

I think it is disgusting always writing about numbers. I don't think that [executive vice-chairman] Ed Woodward said anything about that, I don't think I said anything about that. It is disrespectful to my players and I don't like to talk about it.

I have to work with the selection I have. I have respect for my selection. I believe in my players.

"

Michael Steele/Getty Images

With Di Maria out, the match against Southampton will be a major test for Van Gaal and his team. Saints are effervescent and cohesive in equal measure, and while they've had a couple of poor results in recent matches, they still have the quality within their ranks to cause some major problems for what could be another makeshift United defence.

It'll be intriguing to see how Van Gaal approaches this one tactically, too. Like Arsenal, Southampton are a team that love to keep possession of the ball; that could see United sit deep and try to counter-attack with the kind of swagger that yielded a 2-1 win at the Emirates. With Rooney back—he scored an excellent goal on the break against Arsenal—that's a tactic that could yield plenty of success.

If they can repeat the trick here, United will move ahead of Southampton in the league table. Suddenly, after receiving copious amounts of criticism in the early weeks of the campaign, the job being done by Van Gaal is starting to look like a very astute one indeed.