Erik ten Hag's first task as Manchester United manager should be simple

One of Erik ten Hag's first remits as Manchester United manager will be almost identical to one of his predecessors. He's here to put the smiles back on people's faces.

That was the reason Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was called in to replace Jose Mourinho in November 2018, a caretaker spell that was supposed to lift the mood over the short-term but ended up being a long-term relationship that took United nowhere. Thankfully Erik ten Hag's coaching credentials are deserving of the United job when Solskjaer's were not, but the 52-year-old Dutchman will inherit a dressing room similar suffering a similar crisis of belief to the situation Solskjaer discovered.

On that occasion, they had been warned down by Mourinho's caustic approach and the battles he was picking around the club. When the Portuguese was sacked and Solskjaer's light-touch management arrived, the improvements were immediate.

READ MORE: What the United dressing room has made of Ten Hag appointment

So it seems ironic that in the season Solskjaer was also relieved of his duties the mood in the dressing room is as bad as it was when he arrived. Progress, what progress?

When the former United striker was sacked in November it felt like United needed a smart tactician and a modern coach to build on that work, but the appointment of Ralf Rangnick was a risk and one that has backfired spectacularly.

The German had spent just two of the previous 10 years on the training ground and he was a relative unknown to the United squad. He needed to win them over quickly but failed to do so, with the appointment of coaches that were almost completely unknown to his staff only exacerbating the issue.

There have been just 10 wins in 25 games under Rangnick and only 16 wins in 41