Erik ten Hag might already know how to fix Manchester United's biggest problem

Erik ten Hag must use his early arrival at Manchester United to decide on a settled tactical style for next season.

There have been a bewildering array of different approaches in this campaign. Various systems have been tried, failed and revived over the course of United’s current campaign.

The final game of the season against Crystal Palace is looming. At this point, it is worth assessing how erratic United’s tactics have been since Ralf Rangnick’s debut fixture against the Eagles, and what Ten Hag should learn from it.

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Preceding that December contest, United’s tactical blueprint had fallen apart. The 4-2-3-1 that had served Ole Gunner Solskjaer well was soon badly exposed, especially during the 5-0 humiliation against Liverpool.

Five at the back was successfully trialled away at Tottenham in late October but was toothless when Manchester City outplayed United at Old Trafford a week later.

Rangnick’s arrival in December against Palace saw United adopt a 4-2-2-2 system. This was Rangnick’s favoured system, having used the formation at RB Leipzig.

However, less than two months into the job, the German ditched the formation, with Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho clearly unsuitable for the formation. 4-3-3 was tried for a time, but soon he was questioning his players’ suitability for high octane pressing.

Since March, Rangnick has tended to revert back to a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, there have been bizarre changes, such as playing Bruno Fernandes as a striker against City.

It’s fair to criticise Rangnick’s initial ideas – just because a plan has worked in one league does not mean it will work in another. Nevertheless, with so many good players performing so