Van Gaal is the panto villain in race for the title

He’s behind you!

It’s exactly the right time of year to shout at Jose Mourinho and Manuel Pellegrini: “He’s behind you!”

A few weeks ago they might have offered the traditional “Oh, no, he isn’t!”

Now, though, Louis van Gaal is looming large like a pantomime villain waiting in the wings.

Manchester United have just put together four wins on the trot. They’ve pushed their way through the field and into the Premier League’s top four.

Most pundits now believe that the Dutchman will fulfil his brief and get United back into the Champions League.

The question is Can they yet mount a title challenge?

Back in September, when they lost 5-3 at newly-promoted Leicester City, that prospect was unthinkable.

United were a mess. Van Gaal seemed only to confuse players rather than inspire them.

He even had to admit he’d made a mistake when he claimed that his players would adjust to his methods within three months.

He cited United’s massive injury list as the main reason for the delay. And, in all fairness, it was pretty horrendous.

The treatment room is still full. For last Tuesday’s game with Stoke, Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria, Luke Shaw, Rafael, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Daley Blind all potential starters were unavailable.

But they won. For the sixth time in their last seven home games. Only Chelsea have taken a point from Old Trafford since that opening day defeat by Swansea.

Defensively they’ve made a big improvement 12 goals conceded in the first six matches, four in the last six.

And that star-spangled attack is just starting to spark.

A win at Southampton tomorrow where the confrontation between LVG and his fellow countryman, Ronald Koeman will be an interesting sideshow and United will be third.

They’ve hit form at exactly the right time, with almost a quarter of the Premier League fixtures being played in the space of 34 days.

With virtually all the injured players due back during that period, it’s logical that they will only improve.

Will it be enough to catch the top two? Probably not. Chelsea and City would have to slip to let United in.

One might, but it’s unlikely both will falter.

Even so, it’s a lot better than it looked when Van Gaal was drawing unfavourable comparisons with David Moyes, let alone Sir Alex Ferguson.

There’s an arrogance about the Dutchman that seems deliberately cultivated.

He’s good, he knows it and everyone else should know it too.

His confidence at his unveiling made even Mourinho’s “Special One” claims look modest.

His constant references to his “philosophy” give the impression that he’s in some way unique as a coach.

It makes people want him to fail. It’s a natural reaction.

And when he was given £150-million worth of superstar players, it simply increased the antipathy towards him in the way that any manager with vast sums of money to spend is viewed as taking an unfair fast track.

It shouldn’t be too difficult, critics argued, for any coach to get a few goals out of Rooney, Di Maria, Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao.

And Van Gaal is a self-professed super coach!

Given United’s spending power and the added advantage that absence from European competition and an early exit in the Capital One Cup gives him more time on the training pitch you’d expect nothing less than a top-four spot.

Not many analysts felt they would challenge Chelsea and City so third is probably par for the course.

There has certainly been a shift in mood amongst the fans over the last few weeks. They feel they are now being entertained.

And after years of total dominance under Fergie, they actually enjoy seeing their team fighting for every result.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect about Van Gaal’s matchday persona is that it is completely at odds with his image.

If not for the TV cameras picking him out on the bench clutching his leather folder, you wouldn’t know he was there.

He hardly ever ventures into the technical area to give instructions he says that in the noise it’s too easy to be misunderstood never remonstrates with officials, never plays to the gallery.

But his influence is all-pervading.

From the ripping up of unsatisfactory training ground pitches and planting trees to form wind breaks, to making the media turn up late on Friday afternoons in the thickest of traffic for his weekly press conferences, it’s clear that the club is now being run his way. And his methods are clearly starting to work.