Erik ten Hag's choice of punishment for his players won't solve Manchester United's problems

It has taken Erik ten Hag just two games to be presented with his first Manchester United crisis. Bottom of the league, beaten by two mid-table sides and with confidence at an alarming low, the Dutchman already has work on his hands to turn this team around.

He took the decision to scrap Sunday's planned day off and instead put the players through a gruelling session in temperatures of more than 30 degrees. It's rare for a manager to be using such tactics what is essentially nine days into his competitive reign at the club.

Ten Hag might hope the players react to his ruthlessness, but the defeats to Brighton and Brentford won't be fixed by doing a bit of running in the sunshine. There are tactical problems that need assessing before Liverpool visit Old Trafford a week today.

READ MORE: Players get day off after unscheduled training session

Alarmingly for Ten Hag and his coaching staff, Brighton and Brentford have exploited similar weaknesses to claim their victories against his team. It cannot remain so easy for teams to come up with a tactical plan against United.

Last weekend Ten Hag said he was surprised that a passing team like Brighton had gone long instead. When he's fielding a 5ft 9ins centre-back it's an approach he should get used to.

Brentford did exactly the same at the weekend, as several of the players revealed post-match. Lisandro Martinez has now been bullied by Danny Welbeck and Ivan Toney and after being hooked at half-time on Saturday is it going to be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Liverpool have a 6ft 2ins forward in their ranks now and letting Martinez try and deal with Darwin Nunez could be a risk. The idea of him trying to stop Erling Haaland is already terrifying for some.

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