Liverpool legend Graeme Souness reckons that Manchester United fans will still be disappointed with Erik ten Hag, despite their emphatic 3-1 win against Arsenal.
The Dutch tactician masterminded his fourth successive Premier League victory at Old Trafford on Sunday, as the Red Devils picked up all three points thanks to a double from Marcus Rashford and debut goal from new £85million signing Antony. In order to recover from a nightmare start to his tenure, Ten Hag has ditched his preferred style of play - one based on free-flowing, total football - in favour of a more pragmatic approach, particularly for the recent wins at home to Arsenal and Liverpool.
While Souness labelled the decision "admirable," he's also suggested that the ex- Ajax boss will need to change tact in order to convince the fan base long-term.
"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," Souness explained on talkSPORT, who he's now a regular pundit for.
"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."
His verdict is at odds with United icon Paul Scholes ' take, who praised Ten Hag for his tactical flexibility and refusal to be stubborn about his favoured approach to games. "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," Scholes told Premier League productions.
"We talk about philosophies all the time, don't we? These managers are stubborn. [Mikel] Arteta will be stubborn, [Pep] 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?"
Regardless of the outside voices, Ten Hag admitted that there's still a long way to go before the Red Devils are fully operational in his image. "I understand fans are dreaming, the standards of Manchester United have to be good," the United manager told a post-match news conference.
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"[But] we're at the start of a process, we're still far away, we have to get doing things much better than we do. That [will happen by] an investment, we have to do this together every day, bring those high standards to Carrington. We have to get better if you want to win trophies in the end.
"We have to win every game, [the supporters] have to see that is the attitude: that we have to [want to] win games. We live those high standards and values and when you show discipline in that you create a winning culture, that is what we have to work for. I'm not thinking we're there but we’re on our way in a good direction. We have to keep this process going."
