Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has no doubts Manchester United have improved under manager Louis van Gaal.

Pardew believes United under Van Gaal are a different proposition from the David Moyes side beaten by Newcastle last December.

"You can sense a difference between last year and this year," said the Newcastle manager. "Last year they didn't seem that secure around David. But they've definitely got it this year. There's a bit more stability with the manager. There was a lot of unstable reporting and messages coming out of there last year and for David that wasn't working.

"Van Gaal has had more patience and more time, and more assurance about what's going on from above. That makes them look as though more good news is going to be arriving than bad.

"I think the board have made a statement that Van Gaal's the man and he's made it very clear he's their man too.

"Put that together and they've got a great base for those great players, those great strikers.

"He's had terrible injuries, like ourselves, but they've got a great chance of getting back in the Champions League and that's what I think they're pushing for."