Painful transition from 14 losses, 6 draws last season to more draws and less defeats

Manchester United were not expected to start winning games consistently in English Premier League after that emphatic triumph in the FA Cup final over the favourites Man City. It was a one-off albeit a brilliant performance and United did not play at that level consistently throughout last season. United were not helped in pre-season when the 'only' new player who was available in Leny Yoro injured his metatarsal to rule himself out for the start of new season. To control games, they have neither overhauled their midfield nor changed tactics which is a dire indictment of manager Erik ten Hag. Worst start to a Premier League campaign (2w, 3d, 2l, -3gd, 7pts), poorer than last season rightly raises questions over the managers future.

No United manager has survived three season's since the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson. Odds are stacked against the Dutchman as the team have failed to demonstrate an identity, a style of play in first the two seasons. Jose Mourinho lasted till December with 1-3 away loss at Anfield the 5th league defeat, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ran out of gas in November at Vicarage Road in 1-4 loss to Watford which was also the 5th league defeat. United can easily lose their next three league games to Brentford, West Ham and Chelsea if losing 5 games is the criteria.

United as a club went through a big change in football operations being divested from owners the Glazer family to Sir Jim Ratcliffe owned INEOS group. A new football leadership team has been constructed with Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox who oversaw their first transfer window wherein they agreed with Erik ten Hag to acquire his on-field lieutenant in Matthijs de Ligt in 50 million Euro's deal than to go for expensive but Premier League proven Jarrad Branthwaite who would have cost at least 70 million Euro's. Critics would argue that instead of Yoro and de Ligt, Branthwaite would have made more sense. de Ligt is now reunited with his Ajax partner Lisandro Martinez, who was a blazing success initially but succumbed to injuries that battered the Red Devils last season.

de Ligt is only 25 needs time to adapt to the pace of Premier League and if he can bring the leadership and stability to the back four United can become a hard to beat team. They are conceding fewer goals and shots against have also dropped significantly with the exception of that Tottenham loss. Noussair Mazraoui has had the best start to his United career so far, being consistently picked and shown his ability to pass in tight spaces under press and contribute to improved team performance from right flank. Over the last 3 to 4 seasons United's threat have only come from left with Shaw, Maguire, Rashford, Fernandes making them a one dimensional counter attacking outfit. Anthony who cost United 95 million Euro's has bombed spectacularly so far and can his previously successful partnership on right wing with Mazraoui at Ajax be rekindled remains to be seen.

Onana, Martinez, Anthony, de Ligt, Mazraoui are the five who have played under Erik ten Hag previously at Ajax and now should provide him more control of the dressing room which has been notorious in the past at Manchester United with Roy Keane even labelling them to put the manager 'under the bus'. Erik ten Hag has revamped his coaching setup and directly hired Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar. This clearly demonstrates the grip he has been allowed to have on the club, yet the team has struggled to get a grip on the game. First half at Crystal Palace was amazing with near total possession and 4 very good chances to score, yet the level and tempo dropped later to end in a 1-1 draw.

250 staff were made redundant recently including Neil Harris who spent close to two decades as youth coach. It was also announced that Sir Alex Ferguson will leave his role as an global ambassador at the end of this season as part of cost cutting measures. Brentford visit Old Trafford with their manager Thomas Frank being the bookies favourite now (as Thomas Tuchel has been appointed England manager) as he is considered close to new United leadership team and will want to press his case by securing an important win. Yet the underlying team both playing and coaching has the deep imprint of Erik ten Hag and now to translate that to 90 minutes will need Manual Ugarte to succeed as Kobbie Mainoo has picked up injury. Ugarte had a brilliant Copa America with Uruguay in the summer but joined United late in the transfer window missing pre-season and thrust directly into action. His pedigree and work-rate should make him a success.

Transfer window:
Ideal: Jarrad Branthwaite, Joao Neves, Ross Barkley, Victor Osimhen, Noussair Mazraoui
Actual: Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manual Ugarte

Manchester United have started the transition to draw more than lose and being defensively solid. Erik ten Hag has remained patient delivering two trophies in two years and not lost his temper like Jose Mourinho did. Erik ten Hag giving preference to trophies over 'playing style' at United is totally misplaced but crucially it gives him time. 14th position is clearly unacceptable but riding these many changes at the club while football goes on is a challenge. Erik ten Hag has negotiated these changes and must now translate that on the pitch. Ideally that will kick-in in second half of the season, and for now being in the saddle riding through the bumps will be tough to stomach. Mourinho's Spurs trashed Solskjaer's United 1-6 and now his ruthless test awaits ten Hag at Fenerbahce.

Steady progress under Erik ten Hag amidst uncertainity over club ownership

Erik ten Hag clearly over achieved in his first season as manager of Manchester United by finishing third, winning a trophy, reaching finals of the FA Cup and an extended run in Europa League filled the club’s coffers. United were also helped by the self-implosion of rivals Liverpool and Chelsea last season, who in turn have spent big in the summer. While City were imperious, Arsenal have spent big on Rice, Timber, Havertz, Raya. Competition just got even difficult this season. New rule proposed by FA to consider exact time of ball being in play to calculate stoppage time will mean more lengthier ending to both halves thus sapping up energy of players further, ultimately resulting them in playing 3-5 more matches per season.

Erik ten Hag got his man in Andre Onana to replace United's player of last decade David de Gea. Onana will be able to start attacks, come forward lot more to be like sweeper keeper and this risk taking will inevitably result in few errors leading to cede advantage. ten Hag has changed a very reliable goalkeeper after just one season like Guardiola did at City with Joe Hart. Like Guardiola, for ten Hag also this would be the hardest decision he has had to take. Beware Claudio Bravo the replacement of Joe Hart cost City the title! Onana will need time to settle in to pacey Premier League but he has already worked Erik ten Hag at Ajax will mean he knows what the gaffer wants. Already in pre-season he conceded a goal when opposition team chipped the ball over him to score. Schmeichel, van der Saar and de Gea have been three outstanding keepers for the club in last 30 years and will take enormous effort to try to match their accomplishments.

United stuck to their guns in negotiations with Chelsea for Mason Mount and finally got their man on 4th bid. Mount will eventually replace Eriksen who seemed off-pace after his return from injury last season. Also, there is more goals in Mount which will reduce the burden on strikers. His movement alongside right inside channel will mean new avenue of attack, leading to creation of more chances. This is an excellent acquisition by United. To top it Erik ten Hag decided to hand him the iconic #7 jersey, hoping this does not weigh him down. United do need to have a backup for Casemiro as they have looked most vulnerable in his absence. Sofiyan Amrabat is being mentioned as a possible addition, will be a good boost.

United did not pursue Harry Kane due to difficulties in negotiations with Spurs and this transfer could have protracted all summer thus disrupting the focus. Instead signed a potential in Rasmus Hojlund who just turned 20 this February for a significant investment. This is a welcome change from signing older forwards from Falcao to Weghorst. Last such signing was Anthony Martial and Hojlund will not end up like him due the coach that Erik ten Hag is. Hojlund has more physical presence, runs in the channels, holds the ball better than Martial. These attributes bode well for him, thus the expectation for him in initial years at United has to be lower.

Bruno Fernandes has officially become the new club captain and Marcus Rashford signed a new deal to extend his association with club he joined as a kid. United have done well to agree sale of Telles(€4m), Elanga(€15m), Kovar(€9m), Fred(€15m), Iqbal(€1m), undisclosed fee from Savage, Bishop, earning from transfer of Chong(€1m) to Luton Town. Approximately €45m with futures of few players yet to be decided like Maguire, van de Beek, Henderson, McTominay, Martial etc is indeed good business. Would have liked Kovar to be number two keeper with Heaton but United have got first right on his next move and proceeds from sale to any other club. 'McFred' era is finally over. Credit to Fred to have always put in 100% effort.

Following the strategic review of the club by Glazers last November to initiate a potential sale, and conclusion of few rounds of bidding no definitive response has come forth from Glazers. MUST and 1958 group both have planned protests for the season opener against Wolves. MUST statement reads "The Club feels like it is being held hostage by the Glazer family". Despite this uncertainty of takeover, backlash over Greenwood future, FFP rules that limit spending, United have done two other positive things: Agreeing a long term £900million deal to extend the partnership with Adidas two years in advance which might help to infuse some more funds for this summer’s transfer if contract duration can be prolonged, and created a players lounge area to give instructions to players before matches after similar requests from van Gaal and Mourinho were declined earlier. Club under Richard Arnold, John Murtough and Erik ten Hag have been working within the system to gain maximum for the club which fans can relate to with appreciation. Having got a good foundation last season here is hoping United to close the gap with City and Arsenal even further.

Away to high flying Saints

United were expected to beat Istanbul midweek at home which they duly did by a big 4-1 score-line that again highlighted how shocking it was to lose the reverse fixture 1-2 with shambolic defending. Donny van de Beek started with Fred in the middle with Anthony Martial on left and Marcus Rashford on right of front three as Edinson Cavani led the line. Only concern United have is the knocks to Marcus Rashford, Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and will continue to be without Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. Its McTominay's absence that forced the positive change! The best part about Tuesday was the accurate crossing of Alex Telles that led to two goals.

Its Southampton away for Manchester United next, whose manager Ralph Hassenhuttl many argue could as a coach do a far better job at managing elite teams to improve their performance considerably. The turnaround that he has managed after that abysmal 0-9  home defeat to Leicester City, a joint record for biggest score in English Premier League with Manchester United beating Ipswich Town 9-0 at Old Trafford in 1995, has been simply incredible. He has played 5 to 8 players from that same group in almost every game since then, improved them individually and collectively as a team. Playing high-pressing 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 that many clubs and club owners in England take a liking to, he certainly will manage a much bigger club soon. Main risk to mitigate this season was the over reliance on Danny Ings for goals and the two wins in last two games are a testament to that, and thus far have scored 4 more goals than United. Presently they are on a 7 match unbeaten run including three successive 2-0 home wins. He knows what his first team is unlike Solskjaer who has much bigger squad and more players to integrate. His main changes have been on the left wing with Djenepo, Redmond and Walcott trying to make it their own.
 
A thoughtful Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave a day-off to his squad due to a rare 4-day gap between two games. Most pressing thing is to bring back goals from Anthony Martial, and it could be via penalty with Fernandes and Rashford showing good team spirit. Discipline of Saints to check the opposing flanks will force Solskjaer to play oft-used Aaron Wan-Bissaka ahead of Brandon Williams despite the home game next to PSG where United still need a point to qualify for the lucrative knock-out phase of the Champions' League. Last match between these two sides had a controversial moment when Saints enforcer Romeu fouled Mason Greenwood which many believed deserved a red card. 19 year old hasn't appeared enough this season and this match could be a test of his developing mentality given the history, can become more of a folklore if he were to get the better of his avenger in the right spirit. Bruno Fernandes has been involved in staggering 34 goals in 35 games since joining United is clearly an outlier, no wonder rumours of him being linked with two Spanish giants surfaced.

Amongst the most odd things to have taken place in football was the kit-change by United from grey to blue at half-time after being 3-0 down in April 1996 at the Dell, previous home of Southampton. That change brought about a consolation goal in injury time by Ryan Giggs and a fine of 10,000 pounds for Sir Alex Ferguson who claimed the players could not see each other on a sunny day in the south coast. Later that year in October, United lost by an unbelievable 6-3 score again at the Dell when Roy Keane was sent off on 21 minutes.

United are on a 3 match unbeaten run including 7 consecutive away wins and this could be record equaling win of 8 last achieved under the illustrious Sir Alex Ferguson. Although a draw is more likely outcome given the results of last season, injury to Danny Ings should tip the balance in United's favour but the rise of Che Adams being linked with Scotland call-up makes this a tough match. Having drawn with Chelsea and seen off Everton, Hassenhuttl isn't fazed to meet the United challenge but clearly is cognizant of the need to have everything fall in place perfectly. Solskjaer compared his impact with Jurgen Klopp's arrival at Liverpool and that's a great compliment. After getting the better of another upstart in Leipzig's Nagelsmann, will the Norwegian emerge victorious against the Austrian with the might of Manchester United?

de Gea(GK), Wan-Bissaka, Telles, Lindelof, Maguire, Fred, van de Beek, Fernandes, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford