Paul Scholes believes that Erik ten Hag's refusal to be as stubborn as Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta has already given him one-up on his rival bosses.
The new Manchester United manager has led the Red Devils to four successive Premier League victories following a nightmare start to life at Old Trafford. Having lost his first two games to Brighton and Brentford in humiliating fashion, United are now fifth in the table after beating Arsenal 3-1 on Sunday.
Two goals from the resurgent Marcus Rashford and a debut strike from £85million signing Antony rendered Bukayo Saka 's second-half equaliser only a consolation for Arteta's previously unbeaten Arsenal team, and Ten Hag has received widespread plaudits for his well-executed game-plan.
Effectively abandoning his total football philosophy in favour of a more pragmatic approach like in the surprise 2-1 victory over Liverpool three weeks ago, the Red Devils boss demonstrated tactical flexibility, which was rarely required during his glittering spell in charge of Dutch giants Ajax.
Scholes has heaped praise on Ten Hag's decision to ditch his philosophy, which the United legend reckons the likes of Liverpool manager Klopp and Manchester City boss Guardiola wouldn't have the humility to do. Speaking on Premier League productions, Scholes explained: "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.
"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?"
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No one can dispute Ten Hag's positive impact at Old Trafford, but even he admits that the Red Devils have a long way to go before they can truly challenge the top dogs. "I understand fans are dreaming, the standards of Manchester United have to be good," the Dutchman told a post-match news conference after Sunday's emphatic win.
"[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."
