Cristiano Ronaldo has made Manchester United's next transfer mission obvious

Six changes, a lacklustre performance and a first defeat in five matches.

To say Manchester United's first Europa League group stage campaign in three years did not get off to the best of starts is something of an understatement. On a night where the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II brought a feeling of sadness across the country, United froze when they had the chance to build on Sunday's impressive 3-1 win over Arsenal.

Perhaps impacted by the sombre mood being experienced in the stands, United failed to impose themselves against a Real Sociedad side who are likely to be their biggest threat in their attempts to escape Group E as group winners. Manager Erik ten Hag, in a bid to freshen things up and hand out opportunities to those who have not been at the forefront of his thinking in recent weeks, made six changes to his team.

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Cristiano Ronaldo, experiencing life in the Europa League (then the UEFA Cup) for the first time in almost 20 years, struggled to have any sort of impact, while Brazilian duo Casemiro and Fred did little to threaten Scott McTominay's and Bruno Fernandes' positions in Ten Hag's preferred starting line-up. United's overall performance was laboured and disjointed, particularly after Christian Eriksen was withdrawn at half-time.

As we have seen on several occasions in recent years, United struggle to get the better of teams who sit deep and set up with a low block. They lack the ability to break them down and impose themselves in the final third.

Against Arsenal and Liverpool, United, as they have done in the past, secured back-to-back wins as a result of being devastating on the counter-attack and being quick in transition.