Watch West Ham vs Man Utd live on Super Sunday from 1pm on Sky Sports Premier League; Kick-off is at 2pm
Wednesday 18 September 2019 08:33, UK
David de Gea believes Manchester United have improved since last season and says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a "massive impact" at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer won 14 of his 19 matches in interim charge before being made permanent boss in March, but United's form tailed off dramatically and they ended the previous campaign in sixth place - 32 points behind champions Manchester City.
However, despite a relatively indifferent start to this season, De Gea - who signed a new long-term contract on Monday - says the Norwegian has the full backing of everyone at the club.
"From the moment he arrived here he showed his faith in me, right from minute one," the Spain international told United's official website.
"I think he had a massive impact with the team. I think we won 10 or 11 games on the bounce. Everyone has faith in him, that's the most important thing.
"The fans are behind him and he's a manager who knows the club really well and the people who work here and I reckon that is essential.
"He also shows a lot of confidence in the younger players, which is important for us and so he's a really great manager."
Last season was United's worst defensively since the Premier League started, conceding 54 goals and keeping just seven clean sheets - two more than relegated Fulham and Huddersfield.
Two of those came at Old Trafford but De Gea has already equalled that tally this season with wins over Chelsea and Leicester, and he believes the progress being made is clear.
"We have improved a lot defensively. We are conceding fewer goals than last season," he added.
"Last year we were letting in too many goals, but we are defending better and from there the team is improving.
"Of course, when you defend well, the team is bound to improve. We have some great players up front and we just have to keep on improving.
"The team is a lot more compact and from that base I think the team is only going to get better, and we will be much stronger and a more difficult team to beat."
United continue their Premier League campaign against West Ham on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports Premier League.
