Erik ten Hag inherited one hell of a job from his predecessor Ralf Rangnick at Manchester United following the club's worst finish in the Premier League era.
And turning around the sinking ship has required the talented Dutchman to make some difficult changes at Carrington - necessary evils to restore a general sense of unity and get the Red Devils firing again.
United kick-started this campaign in woeful form losing at home to Brighton before being thumped on the road by Brentford. But things suddenly changed after that, with the Red Devils going on a good run and winning all four of their next matches - overcoming both Liverpool and Arsenal in the process.
Back in July, Ten Hag made it clear to his United players that he demanded perfection on the training ground during the pre-season tour of Thailand when he became annoyed at their inability to execute a drill to his liking.
Ten Hag had his squad break off into smaller groups, where eight players would take on three in an attacking exercise.
The boss instructed his assistants Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag to help him oversee the action and awarded points to the attacking team every time five successful passes were completed.
The defending team were able to score five points for scoring into the small goal on the other side of the pitch.
Interestingly, it was the group comprised of mostly first-team players that angered the Dutchman, with the attacking side failing to play in the formation he wanted to employ - with two men in the middle.
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According to The Athletic, Ten Hag was heard shouting: "Bring an extra player - two in the middle. You can make triangles, that's football. Always the same principle."
United stars got a second taste of Ten Hag's temperament following the defeat by Brentford when he ordered his stars into training the very next day to complete a 13.8km run.
This was the amount that Bees players collectively outran United over 90 minutes and Ten Hag took part in the gruelling exercise with his squad to show togetherness.
The gesture reportedly left a deep impression on his United players, which coincided with the Red Devils going on a miraculous run of form and winning all four of their next matches.
But turning things around at Man United hasn't been an entirely positive experience for everyone involved at the club.
Ten Hag has recently axed five players from his Red Devils dressing room in order to accommodate his new signings. The stars on the scrap heap are Phil Jones, Brandon Williams, Axel Tuanzebe, Tegen Mendi and Shola Shoretire.
Ten Hag took things one step further for Jones and Williams by making them further outcasts and omitting the duo from Man United's Europa League squad.
Jones, who was signed by legendary Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, is also on an individual training programme.
For those involved in the United revolution, though, things have been looking up in remarkable fashion - but it is the way in which Ten Hag has achieved this apparent overnight success that is most impressive.
During his time at Ajax, Ten Hag was known for his dominating, possession-based football, which he previously claimed was inspired by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
"I learned a lot from Guardiola," Ten Hag said in 2019. "His philosophy is sensational, what he did in Barcelona, Bayern and now with Manchester City, that attacking and attractive style sees him win a lot.
"I want to have possession and hurt the opponent. It's about possession, movement, vertical attacking patterns, pressing, and wingers moving into the middle to make room for the full-backs. Everyone is attacking, everyone is defending. It's this structure that I've tried to implement with Ajax."
At Man United, Ten Hag has found it difficult to dominate teams with this style of play with Brighton running out 2-1 winners on the opening day of the season despite the Red Devils having 63 per cent of the ball.
It was a similar story away at Brentford, with United having 67 per cent possession but losing the match 4-0.
Going into the Liverpool game - Ten Hag's third in charge of the Red Devils, and at that point, potentially his final - the Dutchman subtly switched things up.
United didn't approach the derby in the way Liverpool would have expected and instead looked to hit the Reds on the break.
The Red Devils had a measly 29 per cent possession over the course of the 90 minutes but they got the job done, winning the fixture 2-1 and getting off the mark in the Premier League.
Man United maintained this approach against both Southampton and Leicester City, with the Foxes again having more of the ball at the King Power but coming off second best.
Ten Hag's Red Devils beat Arsenal at Old Trafford last time out, picking off Mikel Arteta's high-flying Gunners superbly on the counter-attack with 39 per cent possession.
Paul Scholes picked up on Ten Hag reacting to the situation at hand at United and praised him for showing an ability to adapt - something other stubborn managers would outright refuse to do.
"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," explained the Man United legend on Premier League Productions.
"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.
"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?"
Ten Hag's United are next in action on Thursday night when they take on Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
