Erik ten Hag's first conversation with Manchester United players shows why he's succeeding

What do you say to a group of players who are devoid of confidence after enduring the most difficult season of their careers?

How do you address a failing culture and restore standards, while simultaneously making people buy into your philosophy?

Fortunately, Erik ten Hag had a few months to think about the answers to those genuinely tenure-defining questions before he walked through the doors at Carrington as Manchester United's manager for the first time.

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The first 100 days of any leadership period are vital and Ten Hag was aware of the changes that he'd have to make in just his first few weeks at the club, to ensure the players were on board with his vision and understood it.

The players immediately realised who the boss was. There were strict rules implemented and Ten Hag's disciplinarian approach, which gave structure to the dressing room after a trainwreck campaign, was welcomed by the squad.

So what did Ten Hag actually say to the players? What was his message? Marcus Rashford has provided insight into working with the Dutchman in an interview with Sky Bet's The Overlap this week and he discussed his influence.

“When he came in, I didn’t hear him speak about getting into the top four once, he just wanted to win trophies and he’s got that mentality," Rashford said. "It didn’t matter what competition we were playing in, he wanted to try and win everything.

“We gave it everything and let ourselves down in the Europa League, and in the Premier League there was a period where we weren’t defending as well and stopped scoring as many goals as we were – that’s something he’ll [Ten Hag] want to address."

Ten Hag wanted to build a winning mentality, which meant