I watched all of Manchester United's pre-season tour - Erik ten Hag was right about his team

With less than two weeks to go until the Premier League opener against Fulham at Old Trafford, Manchester United have plenty of work to do.

United brought their pre-season tour of the United States to a close with a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Williams-Brice Stadium in front of a record-breaking crowd on Saturday night. Despite being adventurous and threatening at one end of the pitch, they were sloppy and unconvincing at the other.

Already without Leny Yoro, who limped out of the tour opener against Arsenal and now faces three months on the sidelines, United were also missing Harry Maguire who missed the clash with Arne Slot's side as a precaution. It set the tone for the evening.

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In their absence, Erik ten Hag was forced to deploy a centre-back pairing of Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans. United are actively looking to sell the Swede and Evans will turn 37 in January.

Ten Hag must be thanking his lucky stars that Lisandro Martinez will report back to Carrington on Monday morning after helping Argentina clinch a second successive Copa America title. Still, he will start the season without Yoro by his side, meaning more upheaval is impending.

Lindelof and Evans were flanked by full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Amass in South Carolina. Wan-Bissaka could be forgiven for already planning for life back in London with West Ham United and Amass, despite doing little wrong, is only 17.

United travelled to the United States just under a fortnight ago without their first-choice right-back, left-back and best centre-back. To say their pre-season preparations have been disrupted