Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag fumed at two Red Devils players before the match against Southampton turned on its head, according to Joe Cole.
The Red Devils came into the match against the Saints needing a win to ease pressure on Ten Hag after losing back-to-back matches against Brighton and Liverpool.
And they obliged following an early scare against Russell Martin s men with Andre Onana saving a Cameron Archer penalty after Diogo Dalot wiped out Southampton debutant Tyler Dibling.
A Matthijs De Ligt header put ahead before Marcus Rashford boosted his confidence with a goal before half-time to put the Red Devils 2-0 up at St Mary s at the break.
Man Utd had been the weaker of the two teams for much of the first half before their quality shone through , thanks to a late third from Alejandro Garnacho.
Some had questioned the decision to start Christian Eriksen over Casemiro alongside Kobbie Mainoo with Man Utd losing 4-0 to Crystal Palace the last time that midfield pairing started.
And, speaking on TNT Sports, former Chelsea midfielder Cole insisted that Ten Hag was fuming at Eriksen and Mainoo mid-way through the first half as one particular passage of play carved Man Utd open.
Cole said: He’s bounced straight up and he’s got hold of [Christian] Eriksen and [Kobbie] Mainoo.
It looked like he was he was saying ‘get a bit tighter together’, you know, because I think there’s still a bit of space in between them that Southampton are capitalising in midfield.
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In an interview with TNT Sports ahead of the match against Southampton, that Man Utd are still in a transition period .
Speaking to Ruud van Nistelrooy first about his decision to join the Red Devils as assistant manager, the former striker said: It was 100% the right decision because I felt a strong, strong feeling that I wanted to help build United little by little back to where we feel and know the club should be. I had a phone call (Rio than asks who called him and he says Erik called me. ).
Ten Hag added: There is a very good vibe the whole season already. It s a transition period and now we have to get better as soon as possible and we don t have time, we don t have patience because there s football, there s tough football.
