On his very first day as Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag produced an answer to a question that was music to the ears of the supporters.
"First of all, we want to make the fans proud," said Ten Hag, conducting his first interview with the club's in-house media team. "Second, of course we are in this moment, the current situation is obviously not that good. It's a big challenge. I want to build and construct a team who are battling for each other, who are unified and who will get results. Also we are playing in the Theatre of Dreams. We want to entertain.
"But in the end, the intention is to play fantastic football. If we can't play fantastic football, we still have to win."
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Fantastic, entertaining football is something that has been distinctly lacking at Old Trafford over the last few years. The Theatre of Dreams has been transformed into the Theatre of Nightmares, certainly after last season's woes. United served up countless poor performances on their own patch last season, with the defeats by Liverpool and Manchester City ranking head and shoulders above the rest as being the worst.
Although City only put two past United in comparison to the five Liverpool fired past them 13 days earlier, the performance was equally as shameful. The Reds, who were under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the time, set up to try and catch both of them on the counter-attack, in the hope that the speed of their forward players would take them from back to front quickly. However, United were dominated in midfield, making it impossible to execute their game plan.
United had no intention of matching Liverpool and City stride for stride, meaning their only hope of taking something from each contest was to try and sit deep, play a patient game and hit them with speed. The only issue was, United lacked a dominant midfield destroyer, such as a Fabinho or a Rodri, to stop the opposition from gliding through them like a hot knife through butter.
And it wasn't just against Liverpool and City where the lack of a defensive-midfielder was sorely missed; it was a problem that plagued United throughout the campaign and everyone knew that signing a holding-midfielder would be a leading priority in this summer's transfer window. However, Ten Hag has listed Barcelona ace Frenkie de Jong and soon-to-be free agent Christian Eriksen at the top of his midfield wish list.
Eriksen is a seasoned midfield architect, renowned for scoring goals and creating chances for his team-mates, whereas De Jong likes to get on the ball and play between the lines as a modern day box-to-box midfielder. He can sit deep and protect the defence if needed, but he is not a tenacious tackler that will do the ugly side of the game. Giving him that role would be a complete waste of his talent.
United's interest in the aforementioned duo, although the need for a defensive-midfielder this summer still ought not to be ignored, suggests that Ten Hag is very much intent on turning the Reds back into the attractive, forward-thinking unit he spoke about last month. He will want his side to dominate possession in matches, get on the front foot and take the game to the opposition, giving them something to worry about.
United have not been a team that have thrown caution to the wind and got in the faces of the opposition in recent years. Instead, they have adopted a reserved approach, looking to catch their opponents on the break after soaking up pressure.
With De Jong and Eriksen in the team, although Bruno Fernandes would likely battle for a starting berth with the latter, United would not be able to soak up too much pressure, even if Scott McTominay or Fred was assigned a slightly deeper role. To continue like that they would need a player who prides themselves on doing nothing but the dirty work, such as someone of N'Golo Kante's ilk.
It is abundantly clear, therefore, that Ten Hag's desire to add De Jong and Eriksen to his squad this summer will mean a change in approach, in a move to make United more expansive and vibrant when in possession. A club of its size ought to be one of English football's great entertainers and signing De Jong and Eriksen should only help them try and earn back that tag.
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