Jonny Evans admitted it has been "tough" for Manchester United's players to get used to Louis van Gaal's ideas.
But the defender believes United are all the better for the learning process and insists their manager's controversial policy of picking a back three has its benefits.
United have only lost one of their last 16 games in all competitions, are third in the Premier League and have reached the last 16 of the FA Cup.
And Evans said: "I think the lads have taken a lot on board. At times, you know, it has been tough and it takes time. We've been used to playing a certain way for a number of years then the change [of manager] happens and he wants us to play a certain way.
"So it does take time for those things to become second nature. But I think you are starting to see that now."
United always played with a back four under both David Moyes and Sir Alex Ferguson and Evans said it has been an education to play for Van Gaal.
He added: "I think the fact that the formation has changed a lot has taught the lads an awful lot. Coming into games, if we do have any changes in formation, I think is a big plus for us to have.
"Playing away in games, using three at the back, it worked [in the 0-0 draw] at Spurs and [in the 3-0 win] at home against Liverpool," said Evans "Because of their style of play it really suited us. I think the fact we are using different formations against different teams can only benefit us in the long run."
While United's defence have been criticised, Evans believes their record at the back in recent months is respectable.
"Going back to the start of the season, it was a bit mixed," he said. "Take the Leicester [5-3 away] game, conceding five goals pushes the amount of goals conceded really high. But if you take that out of the equation, I still think we've defended all right in the League and long may that continue."
Evans himself made his first appearance since returning from injury in the 3-0 win over Cambridge on Tuesday and said his issues date back to September's loss at Leicester.
He added: "I had a strange injury in the Leicester game, a fracture on a part of the foot right where the arch is. Every time I put pressure on it, it caused me pain. So that took me longer to come back from than I thought in the first place.
"Then I got a bit of a knock on exactly the same spot against QPR last month which made it a bit tender again. But I played [against Cambridge] and feel fine now."