Erik ten Hag has laid bare the problems that he faced when he arrived at Manchester United by claiming that the club had 'no spirit' and lacked 'mental toughness'.
The Dutchman joined United in the summer off the back of a disastrous season for the Red Devils which saw them finish down in sixth place in the Premier League, 13 points outside the Champions League places.
Ten Hag has outlined the atmosphere in the dressing room when he walked through door at Old Trafford, admitting that he had a lot of work to do to turn things around.
'There was no spirit in it (the dressing room), I didn't see any team dynamics in the team,' Ten Hag told Voetbal International.
'The mental toughness was very low. The fighting spirit, for each other, prioritising the team, that wasn't really in this squad. Changing the culture was the most important thing for me.'
United made a dreadful start to the season under Ten Hag, losing their opening two games against Brighton and Brentford, the latter a dismal 4-0 defeat on the road.
Ten Hag has also had to deal with off-field issues as his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo quickly deteriorated.
Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel before the final whistle against Tottenham in October after being asked to come on as a late substitute, leading to Ten Hag removing him from the matchday squad for United's next game at Chelsea.
He reintegrated Ronaldo back into the squad, but the Portuguese star remained unhappy with the way he was being treated and hit out at Ten Hag and United in a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan last month.
During the interview, Ronaldo claimed that he had 'no respect' for Ten Hag and labelled United a 'marketing club'.
This led to Ronaldo having his contract terminated by mutual consent after it was decided there was no way back for him at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo's comments indicated that there are still issues in the United changing room, but the team have turned a corner in terms of results since their humbling defeat at Brentford, losing just two of their last 12 top-flight matches.
Their cause has been helped by the arrivals of Antony and Casemiro in the final days of the summer transfer window to bolster the squad.
Ten Hag believes the signing of Casemiro has proved to be the catalyst for United's upturn in form.
The Brazilian midfielder won five Champions Leagues and three LaLiga titles during his time with Real Madrid, and Ten Hag feels his winning mentality has rubbed off on the rest of the United squad and begun to change the dressing room culture.
'To get that (change of culture) in the dressing room, you need personalities,' Ten Hag said.
'That's why the purchase of Casemiro was so important. He can speed up the process, because he knows what you have to do to win titles.'
Ditacmopr
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It all started with Pogba, he poisoned the mentality of the players.
veecmpsuz
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Casemiro is the best signing they’ve made in many years imo. They need to start going younger but he is what they needed in midfield and locker room
Sparthans
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Not sure why they always have to bring up Ronaldo’s name. Coach now realizing the team don’t have fighting spirit . We saw that a long time ago. MOU said the same thing , Ronaldo emphasized on it not he is just realizing ??????? Hope he does well anyways because if not , he is getting the axe .