Listening to Marcus Rashford explain how Erik ten Hag has coaxed improvement out of him this season, it was the simplicity of the instructions that really struck home.
Rashford's confidence has been restored under Ten Hag. A journey the 25-year-old started himself in the summer with a desire to return to Carrington as fit as he's ever been has continued once he began to work under Manchester United's new Dutch boss.
When United confirmed Ten Hag would take over at Old Trafford a month before the end of last season, Rashford wasn't the only player in the dressing room who was excited at the fact the club had opted to appoint a true coach, someone who works closely with players and has development at the heart of his ethos.
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Rashford's 18-month slump in form can be attributed to a variety of different problems, but it's no coincidence that several of his teammates had also lost their way during a period when the coaching at Carrington maybe wasn't as focused and streamlined as it should have been.
Since Ten Hag has arrived there have been plenty of success stories. Diogo Dalot has morphed into an excellent right-back, Rashford and Anthony Martial are back to their 2020 best and Bruno Fernandes' all-round game has improved considerably. At the centre of the improvement in individuals is a simplicity to what they're being asked to do, as Rashford explained after scoring against West Ham at the end of October.
"He just wants me to be in the right areas, scoring goals, pressing high up the pitch, little things I’m trying to keep chipping away at, keep working, even if you’re not having the best of days let’s try and stick to those principles, use that as a base, those fundamentals to round off your performance," he said.
You can see the simplicity in Rashford's game now. His free-kick for England was technically excellent, but his two goals from the right have come from direct runs at goal, while there has also been an improvement in his heading at United.
Ten Hag can keep development fairly simple with individuals, which all leads in to his game plan and the style of play that there have been glimpses of so far this season. The 52-year-old was described as a coach focused on the little details during the pre-season tour and that's on show in his conversations with players, which can often be short and sharp but will always be focused on improvement.
He is helped by trusted assistant Mitchell van der Gaag, who leads planning for daily training sessions and helped draw up a six-week schedule for pre-season, with every session planned for by the time they walked into Carrington for day one.
The detailed focus on training and Van der Gaag's regular communication with Darren Fletcher over which academy graduates deserve a spot in first-team training, or which type of player is needed to make up the numbers, has benefited plenty of players at the club.
That's not to criticise the coaches that have come before. Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick are proving themselves at Ipswich and Middlesbrough now, but under that team led by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer there was perhaps a lack of experience and authority which United now have with Ten Hag. Barely any of the staff Ralf Rangnick brought with him were respected.
It was the dark days of United's regression under Rangnick that made the players realise that a manager so detailed in training and focused on improvement could benefit them. Ten Hag has provided that template and even if the instructions can be simple, the rewards have been obvious.
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