New United head coach Garry Monk is keen to see his side bring “aggressive, front-foot football” to Elland Road as he prepares for his first season in charge.

The former Swansea City boss, who took the reins at United last Thursday after penning a one-year rolling contract with the club, has been quick to underline his desire to produce an exciting style of play – something he successfully delivered at the Liberty Stadium as he guided the Swans to their highest-ever Premier League finish.

“I want the players to be excited,” said Monk. “It’s about aggressive, front-foot football.

“I like to play on the front foot – I don’t like to play passive football – but there are times when we need to be adaptable. We can’t always have it our own way.

“It’s about trying to improve the players in terms of their cleverness in how to approach a game.

“But I want the fans to be excited, I want the players to get on the front foot and make sure it’s attacking football.

“It was a unique situation at Swansea – it was a process of 10 years that had been put in place to build to that.

“It’s not about me copying that, it’s about taking the best elements in terms of that attacking football.

“Of course, I like to play possession football – but always with a purpose.

“I don’t want us to play possession football so we can say we’ve had 800 passes but we’ve only had one shot on goal.

“It’s about playing with a purpose. The game is changing nowadays and the pace is becoming a lot faster – the players have to adapt to that.

“I just want exciting football – I want to see shots, I want to see goals. I want to see all of the elements.

“It’s a perfect storm when you talk about it like that. You want the fans to come here and be happy that they’ve paid their money to watch that type of football.”

Last December’s exit from Swansea signalled the end of Monk’s 11-year association with the club, having first moved to South Wales as a player back in 2004.

During his six months out of the game prior to taking the United job, the 37-year-old has visited some of Europe’s top clubs to gain further insights and ideas in a bid to continue his development as a young coach.

“I’ve tried to use it positively,” he explained, when asked his recent break from management.

“I’ve just been out to Seville, who have just won the Europa League again for the third time. I spoke to them and their manager and I watched them and their set-up.

“I spoke to other managers that I know very well and I’ve been to watch a few different sports as well to see how they work.

“Really, it’s just about improving your knowledge all the time – that’s what you have to do as a young manager.

“I've tried to use it in a way where you probably don’t get the chance when you are actually doing a job – to actually visit other managers and see how they work and bounce ideas off people.

“I’ve watched a lot of games, analysed a lot of games and analysed myself, the way of working and really just to try and improve myself in that period.

“I’ve also spent time with the family which has been great – I have a young family at home so I had good times with them – but I think the Mrs is ready to kick me out of the house now!”