There is no doubting that Erik ten Hag was in for a big job when he walked into the Manchester United dugout. However, with an underwhelming summer transfer window thus far and the current mentality of this squad perhaps this is a much tougher task than he might have previously anticipated.
The circus around Cristiano Ronaldo is doing nothing to help the manager’s efforts to turn this team around. There is no question over the Portuguese forward’s goal-scoring ability, netting 24 times last season in a side that poor is evidence enough of this, regardless of the levels he has achieved in the past.
However, there must be questions over the atmosphere that has been created at the club. The whole saga around the Manchester United striker seems very dull now.
It is quite clear that he doesn’t want to be there - and in all honesty it's difficult to blame him. However, the timing of Ronaldo's exit wish becoming public knowledge, just before his teammates flew out for the pre-season tour, was poor form.