The Manchester United boss said there is no much injury worries in the team with Chris Smalling, Luke Shaw and Rafael Da Silva all making good recoveries although still short of match fitness, while Anders Herrera and Adnan Januzaj have returned to training.
"It's been a good first half of the year," said Van Gaal, who last saw his team lose on November 2 against local rivals Manchester City."The most important thing has been the support from the fans, and the players' fighting spirit.
"We can be satisfied. We are improving every week and we can see the new year in with open eyes.
"We are going through the process, playing effectively and we will continue. Hopefully we can have a fantastic result at the end of the season."
"We were weak in the home game at the end," he said.
"I have to look to the balance of my team but we are better now. We have to show our improvements against Stoke, and in more away games. We have to dominate more but (assistant boss) Ryan Giggs says Stoke is a difficult place to go."
"Everybody knows the body can't recover in 48 hours - that's proven, but we have to play," he said.
"That's the culture of England. I don't mind that but it's bad for the players and bad for the games. Look at the second half against Spurs or the second half of Southampton against Chelsea."
But Van Gaal ended his press conference on a lighter note, talking about his love of English life, food - and wine lists.
"English life is fantastic, I have met only friendly people in the streets or in the restaurants," he said.
"Everyone said before I came that the food is bad, but the food is fantastic and the wine lists are fantastic.
"My neighbours are very nice and I love a Chinese!"
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