(Football news) It’s been an underwhelming transfer window for Manchester United so far. With their rivals strengthening their squad in almost every position, the Red Devils are still ‘monitoring’, ‘negotiating’, ‘seducing’ and ‘enquiring’ about their transfer targets. The likes of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Lee Grant, Dean Henderson and Edinson Cavani have already left the club and no replacements have been signed yet. The club has been heavily linked to Frenkie De Jong but Manchester United are still negotiating a transfer fee for the Dutch midfielder who is reluctant to come to Old Trafford.

All things considered, what are the biggest challenges that new manager Erik Ten Hag will face at the club? Realistically, it’s unlikely for 10 new players to join this summer (they would be lucky to even manage three) and Ten Hag’s job first and foremost is to change the mentality of the players. Too often last season, the players lacked that fight and winning mentality, traits that have made Manchester United successful in the Sir Alex Ferguson era. The new manager needs to get the team united, mend a fractured dressing room and get players to fight for each other on the pitch. He also needs to address the captaincy dilemma and preferably take the armband away from Harry Maguire who has struggled with his form in the 2021/22 season.

Secondly, Ten Hag must establish a clear style of play. Manchester United largely relied on individual moments of brilliance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with glimpses of a counter-attacking style but that needs to change. It’s important for the club to now dominate play, keep the ball and learn to create chances against teams that drop deep. He also needs to get more out of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial. While Cristiano Ronaldo guarantees goals, the club should not be overly dependent on the 37 year old who is more vulnerable to injuries now than ever before. 

Thirdly, he needs a midfield that will protect the backline while creating enough chances for the offensive players. Fred and McTominay are an unconvincing combination and this is an area which needs to be strengthened this summer. Ten Hag knows how to use Donny Van De Beek effectively and if Frenkie De Jong was to join, the two could combine like their Ajax days and have a defensive midfielder protecting the backline. Defensively, Ten Hag must sort out Raphael Varane’s fitness issues and have a consistent and stable centre-back partnership. He also needs to get the best out of the fullbacks who haven’t provided much offensive or defensive support in the previous season.

It wouldn't be fair to expect Ten Hag to deliver the Premier League title this season and with the rivals strengthening, a top four finish also looks like a difficult challenge. Manchester United should aim for winning the Europa League trophy in order to qualify for Europe’s elite club competition and try to go the distance in one of the cup competitions. More importantly, with so many players leaving and a lack of new signings, integrating players from the academy into his style of play and establishing them into the first team would be the only viable option for Ten Hag, one that he must do effectively under his limited resources to lay the foundations of the future. Manchester United fans must be patient with Ten Hag and not expect miracles, however, improvements are to be expected as the season progresses.

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