Manchester United have less than a month to prove they can match Erik ten Hag's ambition

The football hasn't even got back underway yet but the Manchester United rollercoaster has already left the station.

It's been a topsy turvy few weeks that has had its budding optimism, gathering doom and gloom, back to what seemed to be a cautious excitement for what the future holds before dread began to seep back in again. The fact that the mood around the club has been optimistic at all considering United are coming off the back of their worst ever Premier League campaign is testament to the good early work of Erik ten Hag but Saturday's defeat to Atletico Madrid was a timely reminder that there's a lot of hard work to do yet.

The performances in Thailand and Australia were certainly galvanising, especially as United appear to have quickly grasped the fundamentals of Ten Hag's style and are already playing a much more exciting, intricate and structured game but when they came up against really tough competition - a second-string Liverpool side doesn't count - their game was a lot harder to pull off. It was made clear how much improvement is still needed if the club wishes to become competitive again. A much-needed reality check.

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Hopefully, one that has been heeded by the powers that be at the club because with less than a month of the transfer window to go it's obvious that more players are needed. The additions of Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez are a good start but, while they certainly make the squad as a whole better, they don't dramatically improve the starting XI as none of the three are guaranteed to be in it.

Though a clear-out was definitely needed, United did say goodbye to six players on free