Erik ten Hag has already achieved at Manchester United what Ralf Rangnick admitted he couldn't

Ralf Rangnick left Manchester United in a low valley when he departed the club at the end of last season, emphatically failing to live up to the role of ‘care-taker’.

Originally due to stay on as a recruitment lead upstairs, his tenure went so askew that by the end neither party wanted to go through with it. His outspoken views regarding United’s dire situation didn’t allow room for endearment to grow between him and the fans, and more importantly the players.

The squad was in disharmony and confidence was at an all-time low. Rangnick even admitted this in May, pinpointing the Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid as the start of their end-of-season demise.

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“Since the Atletico game, we didn't find our shape or form again,” he said. “This has to do with confidence, also mentality and team spirit. For me, the biggest disappointment is we didn't develop a certain team spirit. This is the biggest issue.”

The need for an overhaul was obvious and Erik ten Hag knew he had to pick up the pieces over the summer ahead of the start of the season. All associated with United agreed that the primary objective was to reinstil confidence into the squad.

But the fractures from the last campaign rose to the surface again in his first two Premier League games. Despite a promising pre-season, defeats to Brighton and Brentford led to a new height of dissatisfaction from the stands towards the owners.

Faith in the team dropped again and Ten Hag had witnessed first-hand the scale of the problems. But since then, he has managed to turn the tide in dramatic fashion and has got them marching up the hill once more.

A four-game winning streak in the league -