On the eve of the new season, Erik ten Hag insisted he was happy with the squad he had at his disposal, reiterating that he would only look to add to it if the ‘right players’ were available.
Fast forward a week and the Manchester United manager was demanding new additions following his second humbling of the campaign, the latest painful reality check of how much change is still needed.
For all their summer rhetoric of a fresh start and new ideas, United remain as clueless as they did last season. The pieces might be different, but the puzzle is still the same.
There can be no denying the need for new additions to a playing squad which is paying the price for years of neglect, but there is little faith that United will actually be able to do that. READ MORE: Dressing room row erupted between United players before Brentford debacle The news that they are looking to sell promising homegrown talent James Garner and replace him with the problematic Adrien Rabiot begs all sorts of questions about their recruitment strategy, or more so, the lack of one.