Erik ten Hag has brought team spirit back to Manchester United, who are on a nine-match winning streak and are tipped as Premier League title contenders

Manchester United players are loving life under Erik ten Hag.

The Red Devils, who have a chance of moving up to third in the Premier League table with a win at Crystal Palace on Wednesday, are making a comeback under their Dutch manager after a nightmare season last time out. After the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a failed experiment with caretaker boss Ralf Rangnick which saw United finish sixth, Ten Hag is already telling fans to “dream” of a title shot.

With the team on a formidable run of nine consecutive wins in all competitions, new signing Wout Weghorst walked into a busy dressing room. After joining on a mid-season loan from Burnley, the 30-year-old striker was asked how much he knew about fellow Dutchman Ten Hag and his achievements in his homeland.

In his response, the imposing striker revealed his teammates’ assessment of the manager, telling the club’s media: “Yes, yes. They are good. I am from the Netherlands, of course the national team players have always talked a lot about him. (Ten Hag) The way he is training, the way he is living football, living winning too.So, for me, these are the early days.

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“Of course, I’ve known him longer, but I’ve never worked really seriously like we are now. So for me, it’s new, but, yeah, you can already feel what the guys are talking about. I’m really looking forward to it. contribute and work together.”

It’s no wonder the 6’6″ striker is eager to get down to business as United go into their clash with Palace – his potential debut – after a blistering 2-1 win over city rivals Manchester City on Saturday After the match, new teammate Bruno Fernandes, who captained the side with Harry Maguire out of the squad, hinted at how Ten Hag restored team spirit in a fractured pitch.

“I told the team before the game: ‘Now we look like a team’,” Fernandes told BT Sport, having signed for the club three years ago when Solskjaer looked like the man to chaaaaaaaaaaaange the Red Devils’ fortunes. only for United to falter again.

“Some time ago, you could see that sometimes [we were a team], sometimes each of us was looking for himself. Now, you see a proper team that works hard for each other and you see that it pays off. “

After a recent victory at Wolves, defender Luke Shaw echoed his teammate’s sentiment. Ten Hag ruthlessly dumped star Marcus Rashford for sleeping late, and Shaw admitted: “I think at a top club, it has to be like that [leave Rashford], people can’t do whatever they want. Maybe that was part of it.” the problem in the past with people getting away with silly little things, but the coach takes that into account. You see today, if you’re not keeping the standards high, then you’re not going to play.”