Erik ten Hag shows Man Utd have already learnt from David Moyes' pre-season mistakes

Erik ten Hag has made a brilliant start to life as Manchester United manager, winning his opening three matches with an aggregate score line of 11-2.

United kicked off the new era with a 4-0 victory against Liverpool in Bangkok before beating Melbourne Victory 4-1 and Crystal Palace 3-1 upon arriving in Australia. They are only pre-season friendlies and Liverpool and Palace did not play their strongest sides, but they are impressive results nevertheless.

The wins have been made more eye-catching due to their context. Ten Hag is currently without Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been left behind due to family reasons, while he also doesn’t have his number one transfer target, Frenkie de Jong.

Instead, the Dutchman has got decent performances out of players who were nowhere under the management of his predecessor Ralf Rangnick. Anthony Martial has scored once in each game, just months after returning from an unsuccessful loan spell at Sevilla. Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have appeared rejuvenated, while Diogo Dalot has been one of the surprise stand-out players so far.

Ten Hag is understandably happy with the start but is also refusing to read too much into it. "I think it's pre-season and we are happy with the improvement we see but also you see a lot of work to do," he said on MUTV after the win over Palace. "We scored some wonderful goals and that is also true.

Asked whether his side were winning the ball higher up in the field in dangerous positions, he replied: "I agree and that is also the demand on the team. We press all day and, if we can, do that high up the pitch. But if we can't, we get to do that in a lower block but we also have to press and do it together as a team."

Ten Hag’s work is such