The morning after Manchester United's final pre-season friendly with Aston Villa in Perth, an email appeared in my inbox from 'Erik ten Hag Manager'.
Initially, one thought it must be a press release promoting an app video game. But no, it was correspondence from the United manager to the dedicated correspondents who followed the team to Bangkok, Melbourne and Perth.
Ten Hag expressed his gratitude to us for attending the tour and our engagement with the players. He empathised with us for the two-and-a-half week duration we spent away from family and loved ones.
Also read: Ten Hag gave another masterclass in the Wembley press conference room
Those of us who observed Ten Hag during training sessions in Thailand and Australia and spent 25 minutes in a sit-down devoid of cameras touched down in Manchester with a higher opinion of the Dutchman.
Ten Hag's English had improved from his press conference unveiling at Old Trafford in May and he was not as gruff as his appearance that some snippets from his time with Ajax had suggested.
When a colleague asked what his equivalent of Sir Alex Ferguson's 'hairdryer' treatment was, Ten Hag pointed to his hairless head and quipped, "I don't need a hairdryer!"
Ten Hag spontaneously showcased similar wit when he forgot the League Cup in the Wembley press conference room on Sunday. “I can leave it because [of] the next one," he chortled. "This one is in.”
That humour was present during a luncheon in Cadiz five months later when eight of us spent almost two hours in his company. There was a serious topic of discussion in Cristiano Ronaldo's recent divorce from United and his baseless accusations. Ten Hag was noticeably relaxed and joked he had messaged Lisandro Martinez he would see him on Monday. Alas, the Netherlands were eliminated from the World Cup by Argentina later that night.
We arrived at United's hotel not expecting to break bread with Ten Hag. When United's session ended, Ten Hag came over, shook hands and cheerfully addressed us: "So now we will have a good lunch, eh?"
Players are more accessible as part of the cultural shift. Ten Hag wants them to be accountable and David de Gea specifically requested to speak with a Manchester-based journalist when he fronted up in the mixed zone at Brentford.
The United player who refused to speak to a reporter at an away game boarded the bus with a different perception of them. Now United are no longer a closed shop, certain players realise journalists are not circling like vultures ready to peck at them.
Ten Hag only erred with Ronaldo when he appointed him as captain 18 days after he abandoned the principles of professionalism and refused to come on against Tottenham, blemishing United's finest performance in five-and-a-half years.
Ronaldo is not eligible for a League Cup winners' medal as he spent the midweek of United's third round tie with Aston Villa preparing to have his ego massaged by Piers Morgan. There is always the Saudi Pro League.
You can almost count on one hand the mistakes Ten Hag has made in his eight months managing the United squad. The majority were in August; Christian Eriksen up front against Brighton with Scott McTominay and Fred in midfield, Eriksen and Fred as the midfield axis at Brentford. United have never lined up in a strikerless formation since and Brighton remains McTominay and Fred's only league start together.
The delay to starting Raphael Varane was costly and the failure to integrate Casemiro into the team quickly enough resulted in United finding themselves 6-1 down at City. Casemiro made his full league debut the next week and United have lost one game with the Brazilian starting.
As curious as it seemed for a 52-year-old manager with Ajax and Bayern Munich on his CV, Ten Hag was learning on the job. Ten Hag underestimated the squad's urgent needs and he misjudged the mood. Casemiro was always better equipped for the United midfield than Frenkie de Jong and moving for Marko Arnautovic was beneath United.
Once United ceased their thriftiness and bankrolled moves for Casemiro and prime attacking target Antony, the squad was more balanced. Both Brazilians started in the League Cup final and arguably scored United's most important goals of the season against Barcelona and Newcastle.
Having railed against Ralf Rangnick's methods and bought into Ten Hag's, the United players have accepted accountability. They cannot hide behind an indecisive soft touch or an interim with authority restored to the United manager's role.
The generational nadir of Brentford was possibly a blessing in disguise. "It was hard, the result, the way that we lose," Lisandro Martinez told me. "The attitude was really bad.
"The team changed directly the mentality, it was like, okay, we are in the ground but now we have to prove, to fight again. Sometimes it is good to see the bad things and then you have to change on the pitch."
"We came to training and you could see how intense everyone was, how angry everyone was, how you felt everyone wants to give a response in the next game," Bruno Fernandes recalled of United's first full session.
The biggest decisions Ten Hag has made are all Ronaldo-related. Ronaldo and Harry Maguire were dropped against Liverpool to render their curious power struggle moot and herald United's recovery, omitting Ronaldo from the squad at Chelsea set a precedent no player was bigger than the manager and releasing him has made the dressing room more harmonious.
That move was vindicated long before the United bus pulled up at Wembley. Ten Hag's inbox will be teeming with congratulatory emails.
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