Manchester United have a lot more work to do than many fans anticipated. Having enjoyed a buoyant pre-season campaign featuring a 4-0 demolition of Liverpool, the Old Trafford faithful were quietly thinking that the Erik ten Hag era could turn things around in the blink of an eye.
However, to say that the Red Devils’ opening Premier League game brought them crashing back down to reality would be the mother of all understatements as they floundered to a miserable 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.
But more disheartening than even the result itself was the way in which United allowed it to happen because their performance seemed to have been ripped straight out of the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer playbook.
Now, to an extent, that’s to be expected because Ten Hag isn’t a miracle worker who can change United’s fortunes around overnight as they continue to work through the hangover of Ralf Rangnick’s reign too.