JUST moments after Manchester United lifted their first trophy for six years, Sir Alex Ferguson was waiting in the Wembley Stadium tunnel to congratulate the man who made it happen. Ferguson has shook the hand of trophy-winning United managers before since his retirement a decade ago, but his handshake with Erik Ten Hag after Sunday’s Carabao Cup final surely felt different.

Ten Hag is first United boss who has truly embraced the challenge of succeeding Ferguson. David Moyes was a misfit for the job while Louis Van Gaal’s style of play was dull. Jose Mourinho had the personality, but lacked the temperament. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had the attacking mindset, but wasn’t much of a tactician. Ten Hag, however, has the lot.

So much of Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United demonstrated this. Their performance was controlled, but still allowed the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford to impose themselves in attack. When Newcastle improved in the second half, Ten Hag’s substitutions locked down the rest of the match.

Even after the match, when Manchester United were preparing to lift the Carabao Cup, Casemiro and Fernandes were seen arguing about a misjudged pass made by the latter. Casemiro’s point was that United should have won by even more. This encapsulated how standards have been lifted across the board at Old Trafford.

There have been false dawns at Manchester United in recent times, but the sunshine is unmistakeable this time. Ten Hag’s team are playing coherent football with a clear plan. There is no longer a disconnect between the manager and the recruitment staff – as highlighted by the way Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez in particular have settled in so quickly.

Casemiro and Martinez also reflect how there is now a different spirit in the Old Trafford dressing room – a winning spirit. The former celebrated a tackle at 2-0 up just as much as he scored his goal while the latter has given Manchester United the defensive intensity they were clearly lacking in the days of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire.

Manchester United are back. This isn’t to say they will necessarily win the Premier League title this season, or even next season, but they are competitive again at the elite level of the game. Frequently a laughing stock in the post-Ferguson age, United are a force to be reckoned with again.

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Of course, there are still steps they must take to fulfil their true potential under Ten Hag. Wout Weghorst has proved an extremely useful signing on loan from Burnley, but the Dutchman is limited in his skill set and isn’t the long-term number nine Manchester United need. They might also need a new ball-playing goalkeeper.

United’s ownership situation also has the potential to disrupt what Ten Hag is building with the Glazers putting the club up for sale only for suggestions to surface recently that they could stay after all. Until this is resolved, Ten Hag could find that resources in the transfer market are restricted – see how United only signed three players on loan (Weghorst, Tom Heaton and Marcel Sabitzer) in January.

Nonetheless, Ten Hag’s United are clearly on an upward trajectory that is getting steeper with almost every match they play at the moment. “This team wants to make its own history and when this opportunity came I thought it was the right club for me and that I want to be a part of it,” he said after sampling trophy-winning success on Sunday. United is the right club for him and he is clearly the right manager for them.