Erik ten Hag is quietly showing one of his biggest managerial strengths at Manchester United

Man-management has so often been cited as the hallmark of Erik ten Hag's transformation of Manchester United, and understandably so, given his one season in charge has been bookmarked by several ruthless decisions.

Ten Hag's big calls have all been back-page material: Removing Jadon Sancho from first-team involvement due to fitness concerns, benching top-scorer Marcus Rashford at Wolves for being late to a meeting, axing Cristiano Ronaldo altogether after the Portuguese veteran aired his many frustrations to Piers Morgan.

But another of the Dutchman's most impressive qualities has flown somewhat under the radar - at least until this week, anyway. On Wednesday, United came back from a goal down to beat West Ham 3-1 in the FA Cup. Alejandro Garnacho rightly grabbed the headlines when his brilliant effort in the 90th minute handed the Reds a 2-1 lead - but Fred's goal will have pleased Ten Hag just as much.

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His was the 20th scored by a substitute this season - the most of any side in Europe's top five leagues - highlighting the impact made by Ten Hag's in-game decisions. Such moments rarely grab headlines in the same way as terminating contracts or axing star strikers, but they are affecting games week in, week out.

United deserved to beat Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup last Sunday, and Eddie Howe's side rarely caused much danger but when they did, it tended to come from Allan Saint-Maximin. Diogo Dalot started and was booked inside nine minutes, Saint-Maximin sensing a vulnerability and running at it relentlessly.

Dalot was hooked at half-time and replaced by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, not just free of a booking but undoubtedly a more capable one-v-one defender.