Eight of Erik ten Hag's 11 Manchester United signings are fighting for their places

It was Manchester United's best away win under Erik ten Hag but came with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Squint a little and there was more than the faint outline of an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer team in action in red at Goodison Park.

There were Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire propelling everything thrown at them at centre-back. Scott McTominay was holding the midfield together and Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial combined in attack. There was a new man in the dugout and a new goalkeeper, but plenty of familiarity aside from that.

To give credit to Ten Hag, he has overseen the development and promotion of Kobbie Mainoo and taken Alejandro Garnacho to the next level, but his stamp on the team has become less evident as he has gone back to basics this season. After a shaky start to the season, that approach has worked with five wins out of six in the Premier League.

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The 3-0 win at Everton on Sunday was the best win of the season, as well as the first statement away win of the Ten Hag era, but it came without a single Ten Hag signing starting outfield, although Andre Onana was excellent in goal. This might be close to United's best team at the moment, but it almost certainly isn't the team that their manager wants to pick.

Both Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay could have left this summer, while Mason Mount was supposed to be the final piece of the jigsaw in midfield. Ten Hag wanted his team to become more dominant in their play, but it unravelled early in the season and although injuries haven't helped, he has been forced to retreat from that ideal to get results on the board.

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