Erik ten Hag articulated the problem facing him and Manchester United in the immediate aftermath of their 4-0 humiliation at Brentford.
“We need new players,” said ten Hag. “We need quality players, we're working on that and we will do everything to convince them to come.” In the past, United never needed to convince players to join them. The lure of playing at Old Trafford, for the most storied club in world football, was enough in itself.
Players did not need to think twice when United came calling, particularly in the all-conquering era of Sir Alex Ferguson, when they were the dominant team at home and a major force in Europe. Now, however, top players need to be persuaded to join United, a club in turmoil and one at its lowest ebb since Ferguson walked off into the sunset with the club's last Premier League title almost a decade ago.
The very best players want to play in the Champions League, something United cannot offer and something they are unlikely to be able to for some considerable time, judging by their current lamentable state. After watching United get dismantled by Brentford in the most humiliating fashion, what player in their right mind would consider joining a club in freefall, with no chance of success in the foreseeable future?
United have been chasing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong all summer, but the Dutch international is reluctant to reunite with his former Ajax boss Ten Hag, the weekend's events at Brentford underlining his stance. Barca may want to offload £75million-rated De Jong to ease their financial woes, but the midfielder is acutely aware his career is almost certain to take a downturn with a move to United, given the current crisis at Old Trafford.
It is why United are now reduced to grubbing around in Europe's bargain bucket for players nobody else wants, the likes of Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot and Bologna's Marko Arnautovic, although the pursuit of the latter was ended after a backlash from fans. While ten Hag is culpable for team selection and the way he set his side up against Brighton and Brentford, who brutally showed him the step up from the Eredivisie to the Premier League, he has been failed by those above him.
Where will Manchester United finish this season? Comment here
Before he left United, former interim boss Ralf Rangnick said the squad needed “open heart surgery” and “six, seven, eight, maybe 10 new players” to have any chance of challenging the top sides again. With 16 days left before the transfer window closes, United have signed a back-up left-back, in Tyrell Malacia, a central defender too short for the Premier League, in Lisandro Martinez and a free agent midfielder who nobody else was in for, in Christian Eriksen.
None of those signings have addressed the glaring deficiencies that continue to blight United's squad, with Ten Hag needing a goalkeeper, right-back, centre-back, central midfielder and one, possibly two, strikers.
While Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, all of whom finished above them last season, have spent significantly more this summer on strategic signings that have improved their squad, ten Hag is the latest managerial victim of the United hierarchy's lack of vision and unwillingness to invest money in the players required to compete with those rivals for the top four.
Ten Hag can work United's players as hard as he likes, as he did on Sunday by cancelling their day off and making them run eight-and-a-half miles – the distance by which Brentford out-ran them – but such punitive acts cannot address the desperate lack of quality at his disposal.
United have a little over two weeks to deliver ten Hag the players he has told them he needs to make the team competitive again. Failure to do so is likely to condemn United to another season of mediocrity, one where a mid-table finish could be the best they can realistically hope for. How the mighty have fallen.
