Erik ten Hag is giving the Manchester United dressing room what they need

With the first interview, Dean Henderson lit the match. Then in a separate interview, Henderson lamented his ineligibility to play against Manchester United. The bridge is now burning.

We suspected why United never chose Henderson as the player to flank Ole Gunnar Solskjaer prior to an uninspiring Champions League group stage match or a soulless Europa League knockout tie. He is a loose cannon.

"You may have noticed that I haven’t been able to do an interview in two years," Henderson told TalkSport. "That’s evident, isn’t it?" He is now firing.

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Henderson did not once mention Solskjaer by name and did not have to as he unloaded on the former United manager. He confirmed he was pencilled in to start last season as No.1, a story first reported by the Manchester Evening News, and complained Solskjaer reneged on that pledge.

Solskjaer fobbed off Henderson plenty of times before that, promising him starts in games only to select David de Gea. Dressing room sources described Solskjaer's handling of De Gea as a "big problem".

The United goalkeeping coach, Richard Hartis, fretted over Henderson's return to pre-season training in August 2020 as he would have to explain it to De Gea. He also took umbrage with a piece on the official United website - about as supportive as Nadine Dorries is of Boris Johnson - that ostensibly undermined De Gea.

With Henderson assured he would take over as No.1 and Tom Heaton re-signed on the assumption he would be No.2, De Gea then ended last season as the players' player of the season.

Contracting Covid the week before pre-season training was a sliding doors moment for Henderson, laid low for two months. The transfer window closed