For all of the good work Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did as Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag walked into the Old Trafford dugout this summer staring at ruins.
Tasked with leading the Red Devils back to the top of world football, the former Ajax boss had his work cut out from the offset. Having taken charge of a dozen games - eight wins and four losses - Ten Hag is beginning to show signs that he's the man to turn United's fortunes around, little by little.
Thursday's tedious 1-0 win against Europa League minnows Omonia Nicosia was hardly the ideal showcase of his achievements so far at Old Trafford, but the moment that mattered - when Scott McTominay scored a scrappy 93rd-miniute winner - highlighted one of Ten Hag's notable accomplishments.
Having started on the bench, McTominay became the fifth substitute to score for United in the space of four games. His goal followed strikes from Antony Martial (on two occasions), Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo in making an impact after not starting the match.
In those four fixtures, of which the Red Devils have won three, Ten Hag has demonstrated his in-game management skills, a criticism often levelled at Solskajer during his tenure. The 52-year-old has also eased concerns after the Old Trafford faithful were warned of his poor decisions when it comes to making substitutions during four-and-a-half years at Ajax.
Aad de Mos, another ex-Ajax manager, declared back in March that United's soon-to-be boss was too slow to make changes and allowed games to slip away, not unlike the constant comments from supporters and pundits alike on Solskjaer's stubborn tendencies. "I think that Ten Hag does not read the match well, as always," De Mos told the Kick-Off podcast, via FCUpdate.nl.
"It takes far too long before he strikes with his substitutions He already did that too late in Lisbon and now again. Brian Brobbey should be brought in much earlier. You didn't have to substitute [Sebastian] Haller, but if you could have just added him as an extra striker, they would have been in trouble.
"You also have to show some guts in these kinds of games and not hide in your dugout. You have to have some fire show up, get to that line and stir things up a little bit when things get messy in the field. And that was it. You helped Benfica into the saddle by playing the game they like.
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"It's all too noncommittal at Ajax. It's always fun, always fun, I don't like that. You have to be a little harder on each other too. A war is never made. Ten Hag must also dare to intervene and put players on the bench to indicate that it cannot go on like this. [Dusan] Tadic can also be substituted sometimes, right?"
Particularly towards the end of Solskjaer's reign, his reluctancy to shake things up during games became apparent, ultimately leading to his downfall.
But Ten Hag has already shown his ability to make decisive changes when they're needed, boosting United's threat and silencing criticism back home.
