Six years is a lifetime when you're Manchester United.
Since 2017 United fans have had to watch four Premier League titles go to the other side of Manchester, and rivals Liverpool end their 30-year wait for a top-flight crown as well as add another Champions League trophy to their collection.
One Carabao Cup success can't make up for all that of course, but it is a start.
And what a start.
Erik ten Hag crowned his superb beginning to life at United by picking up his first trophy at the club at Wembley on Sunday, but what has been the defining factor behind his hugely impressive tenure so far?
We asked our Mirror Football team what they think:
John Cross
Erik ten Hag has done a remarkable job at Manchester United.
And his greatest achievement at Old Trafford can be summed up in one word: togetherness.
United boss Ten Hag has only been there for nine months but the fans are onside, the team looks a proper unit and, even amid a potential takeover, the club is now set up for a new era of success.
The truly impressive part of Ten Hag’s team building is finding a winning formula from a squad which boasts plenty of talent but is pretty unbalanced.
The recruitment has been excellent as Casemiro was an inspired signing. Lisandro Martinez has also brought a winning mentality.
Ten Hag gets big decisions right. He is super smart on substitutions, even in the Carabao Cup final taking off Diogo Dalot at half-time for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Suddenly, he replaced a right back on a booking who was struggling with one who came in and shored up the defence with his tenacity.
He has made United believe again. It’s easy to forget how far they’d slipped, they’d gone six years without a trophy and now they could win four this season.
What an incredible job.
Andy Dunn
There are two words that sum up the outstanding job done by Erik ten Hag … Wout Weghorst.
Or Cart Carthorse, as some social media trolls who know nothing about football have labelled him.
For a central striker, Wout does not score many - in almost 15 hours of football for Manchester United, he has scored once, in fact.
The big Dutch lad is not exactly prolific on the assist front either, registering only a couple in a dozen appearances.
And let’s face it, he’s not lightning quick.
Yet Ten Hag has made Weghorst a crucial cog in United’s winning machine.
If any other post-Fergie manager had signed a Burnley misfit in the January transfer window, they would have been pilloried.
But Ten Hag, cutting his cloth and knowing a stop-gap measure was needed, identified his fellow Dutchman as someone who could do him a job.
That is what Weghorst does. He allows others to play.
It is not going to be a long-term thing but it has worked for United and for Ten Hag in the short term.
The most unlikely of United signings - the non-scoring, non-assisting, one-paced striker - shows that Ten Hag is a manager who knows his mind and does not give a toss about what anyone else thinks.
And that is an essential quality for an elite manager to have.
David McDonnell
Erik ten Hag's most impressive feat is the speed with which he has transformed United.
Given the fractured squad he inherited last summer, one bereft of confidence and unity, it looked like it would take a season, possibly two, for Ten Hag to compete for a trophy and the top four, but he has achieved both in just nine months.
United's revival under Ten Hag has been built on his refusal to compromise his high standards, both on and off the pitch.
Ten Hag places huge demands on his players, be that discipline, work ethic and focus, which has been the foundation for the turnaround and Sunday's Carabao Cup final win.
Cristiano Ronaldo refused to buy into that ethos and was jettisoned when he broke ranks and publicly criticised and undermined Ten Hag in a TV interview.
Even Marcus Rashford, United's top scorer, was dropped to the bench for a game when he turned up late for a team meeting, coming on to score the winner.
That restoring of standards, coupled with a greater sense of unity and spirit among the players and staff, with no room for egos or personal agendas, has been the key to United's revival, as well as a playing style befitting the club's attacking heritage.
A decade on from Sir Alex Ferguson's departure, United finally have the right managerial 'fit' in Ten Hag, who understands the club, its demands and how to take it back to the top.
Neil McLeman
Ten Hag is the ruthless yet respectful boss.
He is the boss and things will be done his way. But by bringing on Harry Maguire for the last few minutes of the final and allowing the club captain to share in lifting the trophy, the Dutchman has also quickly created a team ethic where the club comes first.
Shipping out Cristiano Ronaldo was a high-profile risk but it has worked. The dying days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick resembled supply teachers out of their depth trying to discipline naughty kids.
Ten Hag stamped his authority early by deciding one of the world’s most famous players was surplus to requirements. And he has worked to bring young stars Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho back close to their old best while showing the popular Maguire respect even if the England defender is no longer a starter.
The tactical acumen to respond to Eddie Howe’s half-time changes at Wembley also definitely helps.
But Ten Hag’s ability to combine ruthless decisions with good man-management is a rare talent which promises more trophies to come.
Alan Smith
Ruthlessness. That’s the biggest thing Erik ten Hag has brought to Manchester United - right from the beginning of his tenure.
It still feels like Cristiano Ronaldo remains a reference point in that regard but let’s not forget about captain Harry Maguire being reduced to fringe status at the beginning of the season.
On top of that United have been immeasurably helped by the arrival of Casemiro, whose own ruthlessness shaped by years as a serial winner at Real Madrid has been transformative on the pitch.
At this point the Brazil midfielder looks like the best transfer of last summer because, unlike Erling Haaland, there can be no disputing that he has improved his team hugely.
Nathan Ridley
Re-establishing the team's connection with the fans.
Yes, Manchester United supporters have - briefly - enjoyed good times since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 but nothing feels quite like this.
There's no sign of behind-the-scenes issues in the squad, a conflict of interest between the manager and his bosses or a groundswell of fanbase doubt beneath Erik ten Hag like his predecessors have presided over.
It's not just the increasingly slick football which supporters are enjoying, but the all-in attitude of United's players which had previously only been seen in fits and starts during the post-Ferguson era, resulting in a string of false dawns.
Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez, two of Ten Hag's summer signings and outstanding performers in the Carabao Cup final, epitomise the rediscovered passion pumping around Old Trafford.
Ask anyone inside the ground on Wednesday as the Red Devils resume another cup run, there's hope on the horizon.
Tom Blow
Turning Rashford's career around.
There's a lot to admire about Ten Hag's United, but the impact he's had on Rashford's career must be right up there.
The Englishman was on the cusp of becoming another talent whose spark fizzled out but is now comparable to the likes of Kylian Mbappe. Yes, he's that good at the moment.
Ten Hag shouldn't take all the credit for Rashford's revival, of course, but he must have had some impact.
Remember the Wolves game? Ten Hag dropped Rashford for turning up late to a team meeting, even though he was bang in form. Many players would have sulked, but Rashford responded by coming off the bench and scoring the winner. He benefitted from Ten Hag's strong management.
Speaking ahead of Sunday's game, Rashford spoke about how Louis van Gaal would fine him for turning up late to training - even though the reason for his tardiness was because Van Gaal was making him finish his college work. Ten Hag seems have adopted a similar approach with the forward.
Perhaps the only stain on Rashford's season is the World Cup. Not because of Rashford, but because Gareth Southgate used him sparingly.
As an England fan, I can't help but think what could've been...
Mark Jones
Casemiro, who scored United's opening goal at Wembley, turned 31 last Thursday.
A serial winner with Real Madrid, there are so many times in the club's recent history where the Brazilian would have been walking into a dysfunctional situation at Old Trafford, a state of affairs that would no doubt affect his own performances and probably lead many to accuse him of just wanting a big Premier League payday.
Yet the environment Ten Hag has created is a studiously focused one, and Casemiro will recognise that from his Madrid days. The performances have followed, and the midfielder has the stature and presence of a player who will drag others up alongside him.
That's the difference between the current United and the previous incarnations. They suddenly seem serious now.
Ten Hag, who got rid of the biggest baby of them all in November, has made them into grown-ups.
