Jaap Stam has been impressed by how Erik ten Hag has turned things around at Manchester United but believes his team needs to start dominating games for longer periods.
Ten Hag looked to be verging on a crisis after his first two games in charge ended with United suffering embarrassing defeats to Brighton and Brentford. However, in the next match, they found a breakthrough as they beat Liverpool and have won every game since.
The following victories have come against Southampton, Leicester and Arsenal, with Stam liking how consistent the team have been in those matches. The former United defender does believe that the side needs to begin extending their brief periods of control, though.
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"They're doing well now aren't they!" Stam told Bet365 when asked what he has made of the early days of Ten Hag's reign. "In the beginning it was difficult as you could see the manager and team were trying to find their way.
"As a manager, in the beginning of the season you're always working on your squad and that's what you see, you're trying to find the right partnerships on the pitch and using the right players on the pitch to get to a certain level that is OK and gets results, but you're still building towards your ultimate philosophy.
"The first couple of games were tough, they made a few changes and now they're quite consistent in what they're doing. They're defending as a unit and as a team, not giving away too many opportunities to the opposition and they're now scoring goals, especially from the transition - that's their main threat, defending well, winning the ball and going forward with pace.
"The manager is trying to create an environment of winning, and from these wins build the confidence of the team and continue building towards his ultimate way of playing. We all know Erik from his time in Holland, he wants to play dominant football, that's what he's been trying to do, you can see it certain spells, such as the first 10 or so minutes against Arsenal, Leicester in the first half, but they need to be doing this for longer periods so they can dominate for longer. For now, very consistent, that's giving everyone a boost."
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