Manchester United can unleash new attack in the Premier League after important change

It's difficult to take away the positives when an outcome has been negative, but Erik ten Hag's job over the next few days is to make sure Manchester United build on a performance that finally showed signs of promise this season.

The 4-3 defeat to FC Copenhagen on Wednesday was a ninth in 17 games this season, a truly desperate record in a season threatening to run horribly out of control. But at the Parken Stadium, there were significant straws to clutch at for those of a United persuasion.

Without the loss of Marcus Rashford to a red card on 42 minutes, United would have won that game, although the sending-off doesn't excuse another lamentable collapse, having led 2-0 at that stage and then 3-2 with seven minutes to play.

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But in the way, United played when the game was 11-a-side and for large parts of the second half, there was enough promise to just hint at the possibility of a corner being turned. Certainly far more so than any other recent performance.

There has been a desire to hail scrappy, edgy and unconvincing wins against Brentford, Sheffield United and Fulham as turning points recently, but that was wishful thinking based on results when the performances had been lacking. As soon as the pressure got dialled up the confidence gleaned from those games would disappear, because there was little behind it other than the comfort of a win.

When analysing how their team are playing, coaches and managers will often use soundbites such as seeing "a future in the performances". It takes away the outcome and if you know performances are being delivered, then long-term the