Erik ten Hag faces a Manchester United test like no other as chaos risks damaging season

Good luck to Erik ten Hag when he tries to switch off for a few days during this international break. When he took the Manchester United job he canvassed opinions from alumni such as Louis van Gaal and Daley Blind on what life was like at Old Trafford and they would have warned him of weeks like this.

At the moment, United are trapped in one of the doom spirals that have derailed them periodically over the last 10 years. Their commitment to a crisis is remarkable and right now they are doing so much firefighting they should be relocated to Pontypandy.

Things aren't exactly going brilliantly on the pitch. Two wins and two defeats from their first four games and some unconvincing performances will be concerning Ten Hag, but things are going even worse off the pitch. What they wouldn't give for a good news story right now.

That looks unlikely right now. It's been a nightmare few weeks for United and things don't appear to be getting any better. Sunday's gut-wrenching defeat at Arsenal was immediately overshadowed by Jadon Sancho's unwise and incredible response to Ten Hag's claim he wasn't selected based on his training form.

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Sancho used social media to essentially accuse his own manager of lying and claimed he was being made a "scapegoat". It was a stunning and unexpected broadside. United have tried to douse the flames by remaining silent since, but sources have insisted Ten Hag stands by his own comments.

The winger could well face disciplinary action for his outburst and it's difficult to see an immediate path back for him. Just seven months after Ten Hag was praised for his sensitive handling of Sancho, this is a relationship now on the rocks.