Former Manchester United and USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard is impressed with the level of discipline that Erik ten Hag has brought to Old Trafford this season.
United currently sit third in the Premier League table and carry an outside chance of forcing their way into the title race with Manchester City and Arsenal.
Such a scenario would have been far from believable just two games into the top-flight campaign when Ten Hag began his tenure with consecutive defeats against Brighton and Brentford.
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The latter result is now considered a turning point by fans and media alike, with the Dutchman's popularity rising in the aftermath as a result of joining in a long-distance run that had been inflicted as punishment.
And Howard, who made 77 appearances for United before joining Everton in 2007, responded with 'discipline' when asked to select the biggest thing that Ten Hag has got right on NBC's Premier League coverage.
''I've been incredibly impressed with him [Ten Hag],'' Howard expanded. ''I thought this project would take a lot longer than it has. We had Bruno Fernandes at our pitch-side desk when we were there [at Old Trafford] and we asked him. You could see it [discipline] in his eyes.
''It's all about the discipline with him and that's what we don't see from Erik Ten Hag, he's soft-spoken and quiet. We wonder what that fire feels like, and he's got the team playing well.
''It's a fundamental building block. We know he can win things and play good football as he did at Ajax. but he got his signings right, [Lisandro] Martinez and Casemiro have been rocks and stalwarts for this team. The big, big decisions that would go in line with discipline, he has got right.''
The 43-year-old would then go on to align Ten Hag's discipline with his management of senior players. Cristiano Ronaldo, most notably, was banished from United's squad having fallen out with his manager and the decision to do so has produced impressive results.
''Getting Ronaldo out of the club, [dropping] the captain in Harry Maguire were big, big decisions,'' he added. ''Taking [Jadon] Sancho out of the lineup, too. They are really difficult decisions for a manager to make and he has gotten every one of them right.''
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