MANCHESTER -- Louis van Gaal railed against suggestions Manchester United are a one-man team and insisted they did not just beat Liverpool because of in-form goalkeeper David de Gea.
The Spaniard won the man-of-the-match award after making a series of saves from Raheem Sterling and Mario Balotelli in United's 3-0 triumph at Old Trafford.
De Gea had also starred in victories over Everton, Arsenal and Stoke, but Van Gaal felt United had a number of excellent performers as Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie scored against Liverpool.
He said in the postmatch news conference: "We are doing it like a team and the team is winning, not one player. I can mention also other players, the influence of their performance was high but the press wants always one or two.
"I could mention more than three. We were very good today. I want to mention the team instead of individuals. That is my philosophy. I think the team has done very well and De Gea has contributed a big part of that."
Van Gaal also claimed he had made his cook happy by beating Liverpool but insisted his team have to improve if they are to take part in the title race.
United recorded their sixth successive win by beating Brendan Rodgers' side and are now eight points behind leaders Chelsea.
But manager Van Gaal said he has only been satisfied by their performance level twice in their winning run and criticised his players for not dominating the whole 90 minutes
He said in a news conference: "We are winning now six matches in a row. That is fantastic but we have to improve our playing style still and I am saying that nearly every week. Only after the matches after QPR and Hull I have said: 'OK, we are dominating the game for 90 minutes.'
"We could have dominated the game 90 minutes today but we didn't do that. We gave unnecessary balls away in the second half. We have to improve but we are very pleased because we know what it is to win against Liverpool. Everybody is happy. My cook is happy, my wife is happy and I am happy."
United are waiting to assess the scale of defender Marcos Rojo's thigh injury after he was hurt in training on Saturday.
Van Gaal said: "That we have to wait and see. It happened yesterday but I am not a doctor."
Rooney played in midfield and Van Gaal revealed he wanted to use youngster James Wilson's speed in attack as he looked to exploit Liverpool's flaws.
He said: "The staff [do] the analysis of the opponent and we are analysing where are the weaknesses of the opponent and then we make our lineup because of that.
"Today I thought Rooney was more a midfielder for us because I need more speed up and Wilson has speed. That is why I did that, no other reason. Next time Rooney is maybe a striker."