Erik ten Hag appointment would see Louis van Gaal's biggest Manchester United problem addressed

Excitement is growing among the Manchester United fanbase with the news that Erik ten Hag is potentially on his way to Old Trafford.

The Manchester Evening News understands that Ajax are expecting their Dutch manager to move to Old Trafford for the 2022/23 season and beyond. These reports on Wednesday have, for the first time since pre-season, created optimism in the red half of Manchester.

It is hard not to get carried away. Ten Hag is different to everything that has come since Sir Alex Ferguson.

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He is a young coach with fresh ideas about how to play football but, unlike Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he has a track record of managing at a high level. What is likely to excite fans most of all is that he signifies a fresh beginning.

Ten Hag comes from outside the United sphere; for as much as Solskjaer was/is a fans' favourite, it was hard to see that he would have been given even a sniff of the job had he not been a former player. If appointed, Ten Hag will become the club's second-ever Dutch manager and he will play a part in resolving the previous Dutch boss' biggest problem with United.

During an interview with The Guardian after his United dismissal, Louis van Gaal explained what he believed was the issue with United. "The problem begins with, of course, that Manchester United was never refreshed," he explained.

"I think when you are a manager you have to refresh every year to keep the team-building process going." Despite speaking in 2019, Van Gaal's words speak just as true in 2022.

United have failed to refresh properly since Ferguson with plenty of deadwood lingering. Some of their signings have resembled the work of a