
The club Manchester United was simply synonymous with success during the 38-title reign of Sir Alex Ferguson, in his 26-year tenure with the club.
Their unstoppable achievements only made the 81-year-old Scotsman one of the most decorated managers in the history of football. As for the Red Devils themselves, they became one of the biggest and most valuable sports brands in the world, with a valuation of almost $5 billion, and an annual revenue of more than $750 million.
The glory days were full of shiny trophies for United, but in recent years attaining silverware has proven hard to come by for the club, since Ferguson retired in 2013. Their only major trophies of note post-Sir Alex are the FA Cup (2016), the League Cup and UEFA Europa League- both won in 2017.
Standards have dropped such that now merely making the top four (which guarantees UEFA Champions League qualification) is celebrated as though the achievement were winning a trophy in itself. Different managers, namely David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, have all come and gone with nothing but stop-gap performances to show for all the money (just shy of £1 billion) that has been spent on player acquisitions since Ferguson retired.
This ‘dark decade’ of misfortune has left United supporters in despair, forced to reminisce on the glory days while their fierce rivals Liverpool and Manchester City compete and dominate both domestically (in the Premier League) and in Europe (UEFA Champions League)
Fast forward to the current season and things are already looking different, and brighter at Old Trafford, thanks to the incumbent manager Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman arrived from Ajax in the summer with a big reputation, having led a team of youngsters to the Champions League semi-finals during the 2018-19 season, beating Real Madrid and Juventus along the way. He won praise along the way for his attacking and possession-based style of play.
Even though Ajax never replicated those feats since then, Ten Hag’s stock never dropped as De Godenzonendominated in the Dutch Eredivisie, winning back to back titles (2020-21 & 2021-2022) before departing to Manchester. There were concerns about Ten Hag’s suitability to the Premier League, particularly as previous Dutch managers like Van Gaal and Frank de Boer struggled to live up to expectations at the aforementioned United and Crystal Palace respectively.
From Ten Hag’s first press conference as United boss when he arrived at the end of May, it was clear things were going to be different from the usual laissez-faire approach previous managers — for example Solskjaer — were guilty of deploying.
“I have high expectations from myself and that is also what I demand from my squad. They have to co-operate together and they have to give every day their best. And I would say, for me, good is not good enough. We have to do better,” he said.
“I’m not a dreamer. I live by the day. I give my best and I make my decisions based on clearness and logic. We need a good concept and we need the right people around. When we give everything we have, every day, then we will get success. Then you see where you end up. Live by the day and focus on titles and don’t dream about other things that can happen in the future.”
The difference showed during preseason with United players looking sharper, fitter and pressing more (an Achilles heel in the past) however questions began to pop up once again about Ten Hag’s suitability for the job following back-to-back losses against Brighton and Brentford to start this season. The turning point occurred from there, with Ten Hag making bold tweaks to his lineup and tactics (including dropping club captain Harry Maguire). Ten Hag’s restrategising proved to be an instant success with the Red Devils making a meal of their arch- rivals Liverpool, winning (unexpectedly) 2-1. What followed were victories against Southampton, Leicester City and current league leaders, Arsenal.

Although there have been setbacks through the season, notably the 6-3 derby day defeat against Man City and a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa, the general belief in the team has resurfaced, with Man United currently one of the most in-form sides in the league. 20 wins of their last 27 matches (quickest manager in United’s history to reach this feat) now has the early season strugglers back in the top 4, only 4 points away from city-rivals Manchester City, who are in 2nd.
The Red Devils are also looking competitive in all cup competitions thus far, comfortably progressing to the fourth round of the FA Cup and are due to face Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals of the League Cup. There’s now a tangible sense of silverware returning to Old Trafford for the first time in six years.
This season’s success owes credit to Ten Hag, who is dissimilar from the other post-Ferguson managers. He is very intentional about getting the right mentality and attitude into players with discipline at the very core of his philosophy. Ten Hag has been able to massage egos and nip in the bud any attempts at disharmony in the dressing room. He handled Cristiano Ronaldo’s discontent with being on the bench admirably, with the Portuguese superstar eventually parting company with the club.
The Dutchman has also held all the players accountable when performances have been sub-par; as mentioned dropping the likes of club captain Harry Maguire, as well as Fred and Scott McTominay at the start of the season. Under previous managers, these players would make it into the starting XI irrespective of their form, but the new regime makes no exceptions.
Another of Ten Hag key strategies was to bring in his own coaching staff from the Netherlands, even appointing specialist coaches to help work on certain players. An example is former Blackburn Rovers and South Africa striker Benni McCarthy, who was employed to train the players on finishing. The dividends are now paying off with players like Marcus Rashford more clinical in front of goal (18 goals in 30 appearances), evidenced by scoring in every game since returning from the World Cup where he was joint-top scorer for England.

Jadon Sancho is currently undergoing an extensive individual training programme away from Carrington that is building him to become fitter and better adapted to the demands of the Premier League, a constant struggle he has faced since his $100 million move from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
However, despite the successful turnaround in form, Ten Hag is still far from finished with Manchester United. In fact, he’s hardly begun as the team are not playing close to his desired style of play which is possession-oriented with intense pressing, and so many lapses remaining.
“But today was not our best game, we have to be honest, we didn’t play that smart as a team, we made great goals but also sometimes we were lucky,” Ten Hag said after United’s 3-0 win at home to Bournemouth.
“We feel strong but we only stay strong if we do our jobs and give 100 percent in every situation. I did not have that feeling. I had a feeling we thought it was easy and the game was gone. But if they make it 2-1 then the game is not gone.
“The belief is growing and it is good to have that feeling but we have to understand that we have to give 100 percent in every game.”
It serves as refreshing news for Man United fans to know that the team is under a capable hand. Albeit early days, the glory times are back on the horizon.
No doubt Ten Hag will be the mastermind of it all. What a story it would be for him to prove his doubters wrong about succeeding in England, if he joins the same bracket as other top managers like Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. By all accounts, that looks to be where Erik Ten Hag is headed.

Win % after first 25 games in charge:
Erik Ten Hag (Manchester United) | 72% |
Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) | 56% |
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) | 56% |
Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) | 48% |


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