Since the arrival of Erik ten Hag, Manchester United have looked a far more resilient side.
The attitude of senior players has seemingly changed compared to last season, with on-pitch player performance having also improved, largely down to the appointment of Ten Hag.
On several occasions last season, numerous players looked as though they had given up on games before a ball had been kicked, leading to a mass exodus in the summer at Old Trafford.
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Come the end of the season, the majority of United’s fan base had turned on those representing the badge, including the match going support, both home and away.
The fortunes of United seem to be changing however, with improvements having been made around the club and on the pitch.
Ten Hag had reportedly made a number of demands regarding transfers before taking on the job at Old Trafford.
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Since the transfer deadline on 1 September, United have bounced back from defeats with wins on three separate occasions; a contrasting statistic compared to last season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
The summer window saw Ten Hag bring in six signings, with two of those being centre-back Lisandro Martinez and winger Antony.
The duo followed Ten Hag from Amsterdam, having both played under the 52-year-old for Ajax.
Midfielder’s Casemiro and Christian Eriksen also joined the club, as well as Tyrell Malacia and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
Early season embarrassment
For Ten Hag and United, the season got off to a disastrous start, losing consecutive games to Brighton and Brentford in embarrassing fashion, but the results prior to that have been very impressive from the Reds.
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United’s run of earning 15 points from a possible 18 in the Premier League in recent weeks all started from a sense of togetherness.
Following the 4-0 defeat at the Gtech stadium against Thomas Frank’s side, Ten Hag cancelled a scheduled day off where he instructed his players to each run 13.8 kilometres – the distance Brentford collectively ran more than the United players.
The Athletic also exclusively revealed that Ten Hag, himself, also took part in the running session, with the report having been confirmed by players Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho since.
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The following game, in United’s first win of the season against arch-rivals Liverpool, United ran an incredible 114 kilometres, showing how the players had certainly taken their new manager’s demands on board.
Minor setbacks, major comebacks
After defeat to Spanish club Real Sociedad in the opening group game of the Europa League, the Reds bounced back with a 2-0 win away to Sheriff just a week later.
More recently, the media had questioned how United would comeback after yet another heavy defeat in the Manchester derby last weekend.
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United lost 6-3 to City, with the score line looking more respectable than the performance, but the resilience Ten Hag has built could be seen in United’s consecutive wins against Omonia Nicosia at their hostile GSP stadium in Cyprus, and a rocking Goodison Park on Sunday evening against Everton.
In both games, United came from a goal down where they conceded early on in turnovers, but heads didn’t drop, unlike last season.
Against Everton, United also weathered the storm in the final moments of the match, where goalkeeper Jordan Pickford almost got his head to a Demarai Gray corner but for Raphael Varane’s important intervention.
Long road ahead
For Ten Hag, there is a hell of a lot more work to do at Old Trafford.
In the former Ajax man’s first press conference as manager of United, Ten Hag said: “In this moment, I admire them both [Pep and Klopp]. They play really fantastic football, but you can always see that an era can come to an end.”
Ten Hag’s mannerisms can actually be likened to those of Guardiola.
The United boss worked under Guardiola for two years whilst the pair were both managing Bayern Munich, at different levels however, with Ten Hag in charge of the German champions’ second team.
Though the pair share a good working relationship, United fan’s will all be hoping that the era of their fiercest rivals competing for the Premier League title is put to a stop by Erik ten Hag.
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony
Aadam Haladh