Back in April, we made a post about what would be in Erik ten Hag’s ‘in-tray’, and after just the first week of the new season it’s clear there may be even more to address than he intended.

With the season underway, and the horrendous start his side suffered, despite the impressive pre-season performances, all while the transfer window is ticking away, Ten Hag must begin to address these issues urgently if he is to stand any chance of a successful season. He has the makings of a long-term appointment at Old Trafford who will focus attention on the field, rather than rocking the boat off-field too much as he predecessors perhaps have (Jose and even Rangnick in recent times).

With the issues mounting, and fans expecting some movements, we’ve returned to our previous post by looking again at what is on Ten Hag and Manchester United’s ‘to do’ list. We’ve picked 5 key areas the club need to address to recover from their early setback in the season and make something of this long campaign ahead. Of course, we can simplify this list by simply saying they must start winning, but as we’ve seen so often in the last few years, United are not the club they used to be, but Ten Hag wants to fix that.

If you have any thoughts on United’s issues, or how they can recover from their poor start to the season, let us know on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) what you think about this, or any other big talking point from the new season.

The ‘Ronaldo’ Conundrum…

Cristiano Ronaldo, a player that has been the first name on the team sheet since the mid-2000s, and likely still would be for most teams even now at 37 years of age, however this isn’t the case at Manchester United currently, where he is seemingly being used in a rotation role at the club, a position he hasn’t experienced before and he isn’t very happy about this.

United are well documented in their search for a new main central striker, with Rashford out of form in recent months, and Martial unreliable due to injuries which have plagued any run of form at his time in Manchester. Meanwhile, the other experienced striker Cavani is out and so United are short of options. With this lack of talent to challenge Ronaldo, it’s understandable why he may feel surprised to be starting fewer games, however anyone who’s watched Ronaldo over the past few seasons will know how his adaptation to running less and waiting in the opponent’s half for any sniff at goal, will have seen how his style now relies on being the main target for the players behind him. This style doesn’t seem to gel well with Ten Hag’s early ideas at the club, wanting energy, running and pressing, while the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen are searching for creative through balls and eye of a needle passes, which Ronaldo hasn’t been taking advantage of. Meanwhile the attacking wide players aren’t searching for a cross as they want to be in on the goals themselves, and so will often take on a shot rather than searching a ball out for Ronaldo. As a result, despite being United’s top scorer in the previous season, he personally recorded his worst goals return since 2006-2007.

So, with the player unhappy at game time, and his own returns on the pitch, while the club are ready to make a move for a new younger talent in this position, is it time for both parties to move on and admit that while it was a fairly decent return last season, the infamous return hasn’t quite panned out as intended. It would be a commercial loss for the club, but perhaps on field it might just make life easier for Ten Hag, and so it will be interesting to see how the ‘higher-ups’ respond to this.

In my opinion, if there is no agreement between the player and manager over a reduced game time role, then simply they should cut him lose, despite his obvious impact he has at the club. It seems pointless to drag this drama out any longer than needed, as it will only annoy the player and manager, it could lead to issues within the wider squad and the club shouldn’t be wasting time if they plan on making moves in the window anyways. Not many sides would be better off without Ronaldo, but United might struggle to make progress in their new regime until this has been addressed.

Their ‘Best’ Squad…

Is it Rashford-Ronaldo-Sancho, is it Rashford-Martial-Sancho, is it Sancho-Ronaldo-Martial or any other variation of the attacking line up?

Is it Maguire and Varane, Varane and Martinez, Martinez and Maguire or does Lindelof deserve to be starting in United’s defence?

Is it another season of McTominay and Fred in the midfield?

These are questions that the fans still have no idea about, and to be honest I’m not sure the players themselves know if their a part of the first XI, and while that’s okay for some in modern football (think of Guardiola at City), this only works if you have a whole squad of players who are in some decent form and can adapt to the system. Alternatively, the likes of Liverpool can predict their starting XI almost every single week, and this resulted in a strong cohesive unit that has had European and domestic success.

Since the days of Vidic and Ferdinand at the back, Rooney up top and Scholes in midfield, United have really struggled to maintain a solid starting XI of their ‘best side’. This isn’t a bad thing if everyone is capable of stepping up, however United have struggled massively towards the end of last season with a lack of hierarchy and leadership, while also the rumoured factions in the dressing room also create a poor dynamic in the squad.

Ten Hag will surely be given the time to build his ideal squad, however I think it would make sense for United to get organised with their first XI for the season, as they can build a reliable unit, while rotating for the array of games that await. If there are weaker areas that Ten Hag identifies, then simply support him in building his ideal squad. The club are clearly still organised from the previous few managerial ideologies blended and mashed together which leaves a disjointed squad starting each game.

The Clear Out…

Every window we seem to say the same thing about Manchester United, that they need to clear out several players. Whether this is by loaning out some young talents to develop, or clearing off some older ‘well paid’ reserves, they have a huge selection of players that they need to replace. By continuing to pay these players an obscene amount for the little impact they’re having on the squad, they risk failing to cash in on these as they have with Pogba recently.

Admittedly, Ten Hag has allowed several players to leave this summer, and perhaps he is willing to give everyone a fair shot before making his decisions, if the club are to bring in players, they need to get rid of the dead weight. Clearly the club are unwilling to spend big on certain players, so perhaps Ten Hag can broker an agreement that clearing out some of the shelved players will free up the club to make some incomings.

Either way, at least 4/5 players should be on their way out for good this summer in the time that remains, otherwise younger talent will be losing opportunities, or the squad will continue to stall and lack ingenuity and freshness. If it’s not this summer, then by next season there needs to be significant incomings/outgoings.

Revitalise…

Marcus Rashford scored just 5 goals last campaign, Martial netted twice (1 for United, 1 for Sevilla), Bruno Fernandes managed to nab 10 goals (but this is 18 fewer than his previous season) and Sancho managed just 5 from his debut campaign. This list could continue to include the likes of Van de Beek, Maguire, Varane, Shaw and several other big names players whose confidence appears to be destroyed. Whatever has been going on at the club last season, some huge talents are going to waste, and with the board dragging their heels over transfers, Ten Hag can utilise the sparks of potential in this side and get them all firing.

How he does it, I’m not entirely sure, but he has a track record of working with players, creating a unit who support each other and builds players up to arguably be even better than they believed possible. He has some huge success stories from his time at Ajax, and there’s no reason he can’t get the best from the players at his disposal. Whether it’s confidence, recurring injuries, tactical issues or needing to play their way into form, having security in the managerial role for at least the next few years will mean the players now have an authority figure to impress, and if he remains ruthless which we expect, the players will need to be working hard to earn their spot, rather than letting past reputations do their talking.

It will be fascinating to see who in the squad thrives under the new regime, which players he adapts to fit in, and who simply doesn’t cut it and is shown the door, but these talents need to be revitalised, as the game is suffering with such big names failing to perform.

Off-Field…

Finally, the club must address the off-field concerns, which feel as loud as ever following last seasons attempted Super League. The ‘Glazers Out’ protests are hitting a peak where something must be done to address this, whether the owners do in fact move on, or perhaps they can actually begin to repair the club and the damage they’ve done over the years.

The club itself are at huge risk of falling behind their competition, not just in terms of the league table, but the whole structure of the club. If they continue to miss Champions League football, and they fail to win silverware, new fans around the world will be drawn in by the flashier and more recently successful Manchester City. Further, the stadium is in dire need of improvements, the training facilities haven’t been improved for many years and these are the foundations of a successful club. There are ultimately 3 aims for a elite club; on-field, fans and commercial areas, and unfortunately for Manchester United and their supporters, the owners only have one interest from the 3, and the commercial focus has coincided with on-field failings and the fans have been the true victims of this mismanagement. It’s an issue from the top-down, however unfortunately there’s nobody who can force change in this area, other than the owners themselves who simply do not care enough about the club providing the dividends are there for personal gain. This is why financial experts have been put in the positions at the club which they shouldn’t have, and this is why the club have struggled for so long. post-Ferguson.

Ten Hag is capable of fixing things on the pitch, and I believe he will do so over the next few seasons, however the rot of the club will remain, and if Ten Hag does what many expect and brings back the glory days for the club, unfortunately the biggest winners will once again be the money men at the top.