Erik ten Hag is already following Sir Alex Ferguson's three steps to success at Manchester United

“You don't get the best out of people by hitting them with an iron rod. You do so by gaining their respect, getting them accustomed to triumphs and convincing them that they are capable of improving their performance.”

Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson laid out his three steps for management in his booking 'Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United' and, although it's still very early days, Erik ten Hag looks to already be following them. Well, two out of three at least.

Ten Hag became the fifth permanent manager in the nine years since Ferguson bowed out of the game in May amid a sense of pessimism and apathy around Old Trafford. United had just registered their worst ever Premier League campaign and things looked increasingly bleak. Yet, the hiring of such an exciting coach allowed people to quickly brush it under the carpet. Move on.

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But the grey clouds gathered once more as a transfer window that heralded a grand rebuild started slowly, only then for Cristiano Ronaldo — the club's top scorer and best outfielders by some distance in a dismal campaign — to reveal he wanted to leave. Could things get any worse?

Well, at long last they finally started going in the opposite direction in July as the new faces began to arrive and fans got to see the progress that Ten Hag has already made. There is still a long way to go and their displays on their pre-season tour could just be false dawns, but the difference between the team that brought the season to a close in fittingly meek fashion against Crystal Palace to Ten Hag's burgeoning side couldn't be starker.

It's difficult to believe that