How Ten Hag has shaped Manchester United after October derby loss
Those that did were probably doing it out of irony than joy - a feeling that personified Manchester United in both that game and their early season.
On that day, City outclassed them in every metric with two players - Erling Haaland (22) and Phil Foden - both netting hat-tricks, the first time either side had had two players score three goals in this always feisty fixture.
After this humiliating defeat, it was hard to see how manager Erik ten Hag (52) was going to dig his side out of the huge hole they had created for themselves. As they exited the stadium on that day, they found themselves back to the drawing board.
A mini revival after two defeats to start the season had come to a crushing end at the hands of their city rivals.
The two teams meet again on Saturday at Old Trafford with United in a very different frame of mind. In the 10 games played since then, United have gained one more point than City with 23 and they have also lost just once in the Premier League.
Ten Hag’s not-so-secret weapon during this time to improve results has been the addition of Casemiro (30). The Brazilian played 32 minutes in the derby, coming on far too late to make a difference. But the next week at Everton, he made his full debut as United ran out 2-1 winners.
The former Real Madrid midfielder has been a mainstay since then and United have benefited from his leadership and defensive capabilities. Across the whole season so far, he has made the seventh most tackles in the league despite only starting games from October onwards.
His presence in the midfield two has allowed the likes of Christian Eriksen (30) and Bruno Fernandes (28) to play with more freedom and they have flourished. Eriksen has six assists in the league so far, only behind Kevin De Bruyne (31) in that statistical battle.
They have also solidified defensively. In their last 10 league games, they have kept five clean sheets - in their first seven they’d kept just two, both against lowly clubs.
In recent weeks, as stars continue to find their feet after the World Cup, Luke Shaw (27) has been playing at centre back away from his customary left flank. They haven’t lost a game, conceding just one whenever he has played there and that goal was a comical mistake from keeper David de Gea.
This United side is certainly full of confidence and looks set to cause City far more problems than they did in October.
Manager Pep Guardiola has said in the build-up that he has thought of “ridiculous plans” to combat them, and that shows that he is having to put together a far different plan than the one he used to perfect effect earlier in the season. His biggest headache, and perhaps Ten Hag’s biggest achievement has been the resurgence of Marcus Rashford.
We wrote more about one of the Premier League’s in-form players here, but the biggest way of showing who is in charge was his dropping of Rashford after he overslept and missed a pre-game meeting. The striker was left on the bench for the game against Wolves, before coming on in the second half to score the winner.
At the start of his time with United, the Dutch coach was not the biggest voice in the dressing room, but with Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow leaving for Saudi Arabia, he now seems to be the centre of attention at Old Trafford.
Saturday’s game provides Ten Hag with a perfect litmus test to see how far his side have progressed. A point or more from the game for the Red Devils would show that they are on the way back up and could be a thorn in the side of City for some time to come.
One thing is for sure, it's unlikely we will see ironic celebrations from a full Old Trafford this weekend.
