Christian Eriksen is confident Manchester United are on a "good road" and praised the qualities of his fellow Red Devils midfielders.
Although United lost to Real Sociedad in the Europa League last time out, their Premier League fortunes have seen a vast improvement since Erik ten Hag lost his first two games in charge last month.
A 3-1 home win over Arsenal last Sunday made it four successive league victories for United – their best winning run since April 2021.
Eriksen created a team-high three chances and recorded 33 successful passes (also a team-high) against the Gunners, as well as teeing up Marcus Rashford's second goal.
Only Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes (both 10) have created more Premier League chances than Eriksen for United this campaign (eight). Meanwhile, Fernandes (539) is the only Red Devils midfielder to rack up more Premier League minutes than Eriksen's 532 under Ten Hag.
Speaking to the club's website, Eriksen said United's midfielders were adapting well to the new boss's methods.
"Everyone has different qualities and it's up to the manager who he's going to put down to play in which games and see what qualities will work," Eriksen said.
"Take Casemiro coming in and showing how strong he is already, being a winner. And Fred and Donny [van de Beek] have played for many years – it's a decent midfield.
"Scott [McTominay] has done very well and I think you can see that from the games. I think in the first few games, we were looking for each other a bit and seeing where we are.
"But now I think we are starting to get a good connection and a good feeling of where you should be, and also because of the instructions of the manager, as he has the positions he would like us to be in.
"I think it's gone well, but also when you win games it's just easier to look back and the confidence builds up and you forget the small mistakes you make and remember the good things.
"There are a lot of things we can improve, but it's a good road we're on."
Last season's 6th-placed Premier League finish means United are competing in the Europa League this campaign, but Eriksen believes the strength of their squad – and the allowance of five substitutions – leaves them well-equipped to cope.
"[The whole squad] is going to be very important," he added. "I think this is a good year to have five substitutions.
"It will help the pressure on a lot of the players, and also I think it will give the manager a few more options.
"The guys who have come on have done very well – they want to prove themselves. And also the guys that have been starting want to prove themselves.
"So it's a good and strong push that I think we need, because we have a lot of games and there is a lot of quality in the team. We all have to fight for our places."
Following the Premier League's decision to postpone its weekend fixture programme after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, United are back in action on Thursday, travelling to Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.
Rice "was never going to celebrate" against Republic of Ireland
Declan Rice "was never going to celebrate" after scoring against the Republic of Ireland in England's 2-0 Nations League victory.
The midfielder was met by a hostile crowd in Dublin having previously represented Ireland before changing allegiance to England.
But Rice had the last laugh, lashing home in the 11th minute before teeing up Jack Grealish, who previously represented Ireland at youth level, to seal a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side.
It marked his fourth goal for the Three Lions but Rice did not feel the need for celebrations.
"Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate. I have Irish family, my nan and grandad, who are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated," he told beIN Sports.
"It happened six, seven years ago so it’s such a long time ago now. I get on really well with a lot of the Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by, by me. Obviously, the fans feel a certain way, and that’s absolutely fine.
"I just wanted to focus and get my head back in the game to score more goals."
The last time Rice had played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was six years and 97 days prior to Saturday's match. On that occasion, he represented Ireland against the USA in June 2018.
Now in the white shirt of England, Rice helped interim manager Carsley to a debut win in Dublin after the resignation of Gareth Southgate following Euro 2024.
"It's been refreshing this week to play with [Carsley] and play with his staff. We're playing in a different way to what we were before," reflected Rice.
"It's going to take a bit of time for us to be amazing at what we do, but a lot of the players that play at [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Arsenal, we play a similar way, so it's easy to adapt.
"It was really good, it was really refreshing. I'm feeling much fitter in myself which is a real positive. It was a really good result in the end."
While Rice now represents a relative stalwart of the England squad with 59 caps, former England Under-21s manager Carsley, himself an ex-Ireland international, handed debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, while he also played Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill from the start.
"We've obviously been really close now in back-to-back Euros, at a World Cup, so the next thing for England is to win," said Rice.
"We need to strive and keep building towards that. It’s a different group this time, more younger players, but I'm sure we’ll be better for it. Going forward, it's going to be really positive, and it's going to be a fresh start."
Koeman impressed with 'flashy' Netherlands, jumps to defend De Ligt mistakes
Ronald Koeman was pleased with the Netherlands' "flashy" display against Bosnia-Herzegovina, as he also jumped to the aid of defender Matthijs de Ligt.
A dominant Dutch display eventually reflected the scoreline it deserved upon Donatas Rumsas' final whistle, as they bounced back to winning ways with a 5-2 victory following their Euro 2024 semi-final disappointment.
Joshua Zirkzee's opener was cancelled out by Ermedin Demirovic, before strikes from Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo gave the Netherlands a comfortable advantage.
Edin Dzeko's 73rd-minute goal threatened to set a nervy conclusion to proceedings, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to confirm an emphatic victory.
"We played really well in possession. Very fresh, fast, often finding the people between the lines," Koeman said.
"Especially after the break, we had a good phase, but then the game has to be over."
Despite registering 28 shots, with nine of those on target, along with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, two lapses in concentration from De Ligt were punished by Bosnia.
Demirovic capitalised on some poor positioning from the Manchester United defender, who was then caught ball-watching as veteran Dzeko capitalised.
But Koeman came to the defence of De Ligt, saying: "You concede two goals, you take that with you. When we went to 3-2, you also saw some doubt in the team, while that was not necessary if you looked at the proportions.
"[For the first goal] Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him.
"Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too.
"He [De Ligt] also realises that he is in the wrong position. This shouldn't happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it's unfair to make a big deal out of it."
Ronaldo's 900 goals 'an inspiration for football' – Martinez
Portugal boss Roberto Martinez sees Cristiano Ronaldo's "incredible" achievement of 900 career goals as an "inspiration for football".
Ronaldo netted his landmark goal on Thursday, scoring Portugal's winner in a 2-1 Nations League victory over Croatia.
The 39-year-old was already the leading goalscorer in the history of the game.
And Martinez feels nobody can put a limit on what Ronaldo is still able to achieve.
"I don't think scoring 900 goals is easy. It's a historic achievement, incredible, an inspiration for football," Martinez said ahead of Portugal's clash with Scotland.
"I don't think anyone can say that Cristiano can't do something. It's incredible what he's achieving, what he's doing in football.
"For us, the goal is collective. That he helps the national team."
Scotland lost 3-2 at home to Poland in their Nations League opener, but Martinez is expecting a fierce test on Sunday.
"Our players know the intensity of British football. Scotland have that. A lot of intensity, fast attacks, experience. We know the difference, but Scotland are objective, vertical, but have the quality to keep the ball," Martinez said.
"The last two games have shown that they want to win. They've lost their last few games after the 90th minute, they're objective, they've got top-class players. They're experienced and talented.
"It's not just a British team, a physical team, but a team with lots of skills and the game will be very competitive. We've prepared for that."
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