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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Samuel Luckhurst

Erik ten Hag is behind every improvement at Manchester United this season

If there is another alteration Erik ten Hag suggests to the Manchester United decision-makers it might be to relocate Under-21 games from Leigh to Altrincham.

Ten Hag was in attendance at the J Davidson Stadium on Friday night, enforced by the women's team's opening fixture at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday.

Anyone who has driven past Altrincham's ground will know how close it is to Hale village. A potential post-match debrief at La Famiglia or Piccolino is less than a mile away.

Also read: United have four positions to discuss in transfer meetings

The United manager opted for Piccolino the night of his first game in charge to digest the demoralising defeat to Brighton. Ten Hag was joined by his wife, Bianca, and agent Kees Vos, among others. Ever the Dutchman, Ten Hag cycled the streets of Cheshire last weekend.

The wheels nearly came off in those opening weeks of the season. United responded somewhat in the second-half against Brighton but Brentford was the nadir for any United fan of any generation, a hammering so chastening it was likened to the 5-0 surrender at Crystal Palace in 1972.

Within three days, Ten Hag had decided to drop the United captain whom he agreed was a "first choice" centre-back only a month earlier in Melbourne. Luke Shaw, one of three England players to have scored in a major final and United's best player two seasons ago, was discarded for Tyrell Malacia and Anthony Elanga replaced Cristiano Ronaldo.

The boldness of those calls was accentuated by the opponents: Liverpool. The fixture had loomed ominously for United fans and in the aftermath of Brentford looked terrifying. Yet United overwhelmed one of the best club teams of the last five years, feeding off a mutinous and raucous atmosphere in a breakneck first 20 minutes.

Getting points on the board has taken precedence since Brentford. Stood in the technical area of the Community Stadium and unsheltered from heat so unforgiving that suntan lotion was required, Ten Hag decided to haul in the players for an unscheduled training session the next day.

A source described the slog in temperatures north of 30 as "ruinous". It was a risk Ten Hag felt he had to take and the response has been near-flawless: six games and five wins, the sole defeat coming in a humdrum Europa League tie staged on the evening of seismic news from Balmoral.

A wrong decision is better than indecision and United had an indecisive manager in charge at the start of last season. There is a clinical decisiveness about Ten Hag's calls and it is not a coincidence the word he utters the most in press conferences is "clear".

Ten Hag's summer ended well with the signing of priority target Antony (2022 Manchester United FC)

Raphael Varane's importance was clear last season and it has become obvious next to the £55.3million Lisandro Martinez. If 'top fan' existed on Instagram, Martinez would be Varane's. The Argentinian has dubbed Varane leyenda - legend - and "awesome" in comments on his posts.

Reconstructing the defence with a Latino-Dutch contingent has secured four successive Premier League wins for the first time since April 2021 and United last won three on the spin away from home in December 2020.

Diogo Dalot, an improved presence under Ten Hag and one of only two outfield players to have started all eight games, communicates in Spanish with Varane and Martinez, Portuguese with Antony and the King's with Scott McTominay.

McTominay was fortunate to start against Southampton and Leicester with Casemiro registered but built himself up to perform against Arsenal, his best performance in nearly two years. Bruno Fernandes had never played better for United this calendar year that day and nor had Marcus Rashford, such were his matchwinning impacts.

Ten Hag has improved Rashford (2022 Getty Images)

Ten Hag erred in starting Christian Eriksen at the tip of a blunt arrow against Brighton and demurred in the second-half before inevitably moving him to the middle third. Since Leicester away, Eriksen has been the standout player in United's last four games.

Moving for a playmaker whose durability is an understandable concern after a few fine months at Brentford was not a compelling sell but Eriksen's expertise in the Premier League has been evident in every game bar Brentford, where he was played into trouble by his manager's selection.

Ten Hag has swiftly learned from those mistakes and settled on a starting side quicker than his Dutch predecessor at United. Louis van Gaal happened upon a winning formula in March of his first season.

The derby at City could enforce adjustments pre or post-match. Casemiro, a £70million investment, has to be integrated into the starting XI sooner or later and though the forwards have had profound impacts their performances have been fitful.

United are yet to transition to Ten Hag's proactive style and remain reliant on the counter-attack, an unsustainable approach if they are to become a credible force again. They are at least finally playing as a team and Ten Hag has fumigated a dressing room that was toxic for almost the entirety of last season.

Some players are more tightly wound in victory than in defeat, still reeling from the criticism that greets thrashings (and there have been a few over the last year). Ten Hag has advised players to take more accountability and front up, which Dalot and David de Gea did in defeat this season.

Fail to do so and they could always play at Leigh or Altrincham.

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