Erik Ten Hag's To-Do List To Revive Manchester Utd Fortunes

Erik ten Hag will become Manchester United manager next season, tasked with turning around nearly a decade of decline since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired. The Red Devils have not won a trophy in five years and are unlikely to even qualify for next season's Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo was welcomed back to Old Trafford as a hero in August with United fans dreaming of challenging Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea for the Premier League title.

Instead, United find themselves outside the top four heading into the final weeks of the season despite the five-time Ballon d'Or winner scoring 21 goals. Ronaldo has been pinpointed as one of the reasons for United's failings out of possession, but a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool in his absence on Tuesday showed there is far more going wrong.

ThePortuguese still has one year left to run on his contract, but at 37 is unlikely to want to spend one of his remaining years at the top level outside the Champions League.

A parting of the ways could be in the interests of all parties as it would free up funds for Ten Hag to invest in younger legs more suited to the style of play he implemented at Ajax.

However, former United boss Louis van Gaal warned his compatriot that the Red Devils are now a "commercial club" and keeping a global superstar like Ronaldo on the books would be in the interests of United's sponsors.

Impose an identity

Ten Hag will be United's sixth manager in nine years since Ferguson departed.

In that time they have swung from the possession-based football of Van Gaal, to the physical approah ofJose Mourinho, a counter-attacking style favoured by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before the godfather of German pressing,Ralf Rangnick, was appointed