Ray Parlour believes the way in which Ralf Rangnick has got his message across in such a short space of time as Manchester United manager is a "masterpiece".
Rangnick has had to be patient to take his place in the dugout due to Covid-19 and visa issues, with Michael Carrick leading the team against Arsenal last week.
But the German, with limited training time due to Thursday's match against Arsenal, was able to steer his team into a cohesive 4-2-2-2 shape, a different system to the one many of the current players are used to.
And Parlour was extremely impressed with how quickly the United players seemed to understand their roles within the new system.
"How you get that across very quickly is a masterpiece, for me," Parlour said on talkSPORT. "Because they look like they have been playing that for most of the season, the way they performed.
"4-2-2-2 is the formation he played with Leipzig when they were very successful so he's going to go with that."
Parlour added: "The full-backs bombed on, they defended when they had to, I thought Fred and McTominay were excellent in central midfield. They covered people when they had to.
"Palace are a good side now, I like the way Patrick has got the way Palace playing, so it wasn't an easy game for Manchester United, but they maybe should have scored a few more goals."
United defeated Palace thanks to a late strike from Fred, sweeping home a curling finish with his right foot from outside the penalty area. It was their best performance in a long time, especially in the first half in which Rangnick's famous high press had a major impact on proceedings.
And Parlour also noticed another development on the touchline: the increased presence of Darren Fletcher.
"Darren Fletcher was heavily involved in the dugout area, which he wasn't with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he was always in the stands as a technical director. So he might have a lot more to say now, who was a great, great player for Manchester United, so he might have a big part to play."
Rangnick will lead his United team in their final Champions League group stage game against Young Boys on Wednesday evening.
And with Arsenal losing to Everton on Monday, United have already leaped back up to sixth place in the Premier League, just three points behind West Ham and the top four.
