How Ten Hag has turned Man Utd's season around: Patience paying off with Onana
Dropping to eighth in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat at West Ham just before Christmas, fingers were being pointed and questions were being asked about Erik ten Hag.
United had, on that day, officially lost more games than they had won in all competitions and this was quickly turning into a season to forget.
But what has followed has been a drastic turnaround which has seen United put a run together which has Rasmus Hojlund as the in-form striker in the league, Scott McTominay thriving in a new bench role, and Diogo Dalot looking a player transformed at right back.
It is now United with all the momentum in the race for the top four, not Aston Villa, who they beat 2-1 on Sunday, as it was for a while.
Mail Sport picks out five things Ten Hag has done to help turn United's ailing season on its head...
Credit to Ten Hag for sticking with Onana when it would have been so easy to bow to fan pressure and drop the Cameroonian shot-stopper.
After a disastrous 3-3 draw at Galatasaray in the Champions League in December - where Onana was blamed for all three goals - calls were deafening for Ten Hag to accept he had made a mistake signing Onana and to instead turn to Altay Bayindir or Tom Heaton.
'Players always need trust,' Ten Hag said. 'After Alisson, he is the best stopper in the league for preventing expected goals. So then you deserve to play.
'He has the potential, so we have to work on him so that he does it consistently. We will work with him and we will support him. The manager, coaches and players all support him.'
Asked if he has considered dropping Onana, he replied: 'It won't help him. Nobody is undroppable, that is also clear. But we have a strong belief that he will help us win trophies.'
Now, vindication.
At Aston
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