Manchester United icon Paul Scholes believes that Erik ten Hag should be commended for the adaptability he has shown in the wake of the club's disastrous start to the Premier League season - but Graeme Souness is of a very different opinion.
Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford off the back of a trophy-laden stint in the Eredivisie with Ajax, where the former Amsterdam favourite guided his old side to three Dutch titles in four years with an attractive, expansive style of play; just like the Manchester United teams of old.
However, Ten Hag quickly encountered some major issues in his early attempts to transform United back into a slick, free-flowing footballing team. Chastening defeats at the hands of Brighton and Brentford has seen Ten Hag ditch his total football philosophy in recent weeks - an approach that has yielded an immediate upturn in form. United have now recorded four consecutive wins after adopting a more pragmatic, counter-attacking style.
And Scholes is adamant that Ten Hag deserves credit for swallowing his pride and finding another way to win; something he believes the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would be unwilling to do.
Speaking after United's 3-1 win over Arsenal, the former midfielder told Premier League Productions: "These players now are probably not suited to the way he wants to play, but he's found a way to win games with this group of players.
"We talk about philosophies all the time, don't we? These managers are stubborn. Arteta will be stubborn, Guardiola will be stubborn, Jurgen Klopp will be stubborn. But this man – you have to give him credit because he's gone away, really, from what he wants to do.
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"Now, why would you change and go back to something that didn't really work at the start of the season? He's found a way of playing football on the counter-attack with this group of players – why change that?"
But unlike Scholes, Souness believes that Manchester United fans will be less than impressed that Ten Hag has ditched his footballing principles to compensate for United's shocking start to the season.
And he is adamant that the new pragmatic approach is not the 'Manchester United way' that fans have been clamouring for.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: "I think after the first two games, losing in the manner in which they did against Brentford, I think there was maybe a wake up call for the new manager.
"I think he looked at his players and thought, 'we're good enough to take people on in a proper end-to-end game of football because we've got better players'. But after two games he may have had a rethink and I think there's been a bit of a restart because the way that they're digging out results now, which is admirable.
"They're dogged, determined, they're showing real spirit, togetherness… I think they're playing in a pragmatic way now, they’re not playing in the Manchester United way."
