Louis van Gaal led the praise for David De Gea as he accepted that the goalkeeper was the difference between Manchester United and Everton in his side's 2-1 win.
The Dutchman called his goalkeeper "great" after he saved a Leighton Baines penalty and made injury-time stops to deny Leon Osman and Baines an equaliser.
But the United manager savoured the sight of the league table as his team moved into the top four for the first time this season and wondered how much they might achieve when they perform well for the entire game.
Asked if the Spaniard was the difference between victory and a draw, he said in a news conference: "Yes, of course because at the end of the first half he stopped a penalty so that was good. He did very well in the last 15 minutes, [saving] three shots outside the box, [that is] always difficult because a lot of players are in front of him so his view is not always good but when you stop those kind of shots you are very good."
He added on Sky Sports: "When you hold the penalty and then in the dying seconds you make three magnificent saves, then you are great because you win the game because of that."
United recorded three successive home wins for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge and Van Gaal, who is aiming for a top-four finish, has steered them into their highest position of the campaign.
He added: "We are not playing good but we are already fourth in the table. What is coming when we are playing well? We have to do it 90 minutes. We have played very good for 45 minutes already, sometimes for 50 or 60 but we have to do it for 90 minutes. That needs time."
Van Gaal was unhappy with his side's second-half display after Everton, like West Ham before them, almost came from behind to snatch a point at Old Trafford.
He said: "It is now our second game that we are not good in the second half. Maybe last week we had an excuse [because Wayne Rooney was sent off] but it is not an excuse. We have given in the second half four big chances away. Four."
Van Gaal said he substituted goalscorer Radamel Falcao because United were struggling to cope with Everton's overlapping left-back Baines, hinting that the Colombian was not helping his defence enough.
He explained: "In the second half the danger came from Baines, that is why I changed Falcao with [James] Wilson and he has to play more on the right side."
Van Gaal again praised Angel Di Maria, who scored the opening goal and set up the winner to continue his fine start to life at Old Trafford.
He said: "When you give assists and also score goals what more can you ask of a player? When you do that every week, and he does it every week, we have to be very pleased with him."