After a disastrous start to his Manchester United tenure, with back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Bournemouth, Erik ten Hag has turned things around.
The Dutchman has won five games out of six, with United up to fifth in the Premier League table, six points off leaders Arsenal, with a game in hand. Despite that turnaround, Ten Hag knows his rebuild is only just beginning and there remains significant work ahead to turn United back into title contenders and trophy contenders.
Against that backdrop, heading into the international break, Mirror Sport has looked at five issues Ten Hag must address next in his overhaul of United, if he is to maintain the progress he has overseen in the past month.
Get Casemiro up to speed
United paid Real Madrid £70million for Casemiro, but the five-time Champions League winner has started just one game and has looked off the pace when he has played. Ten Hag and his coaching staff must get Casemiro up to speed quickly, to get the best out of such a high-profile signing, with games coming thick and fast and the squad needing to be utilised with rotation to keep players fresh and sharp.
Resolve the captaincy issue
With United skipper Harry Maguire unable to command a place in the team and unlikely to get back any time soon, Ten Hag must resolve the issue of the captaincy. Bruno Fernandes is wearing the armband in Maguire's absence and has thrived with the added responsibility, so the time has come for Ten Hag to make that change permanent.
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Keep Ronaldo on board
After Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal of the season in United's 2-0 Europa League win away to Sheriff Tiraspol, Ten Hag insisted the forward is fully committed to the club, despite trying to engineer a move away in the summer. January, when the transfer window opens, will test the validity of Ten Hag's comments, but until then he must keep Ronaldo onside and feeling integral to his plans, even if he has not been an automatic starter this season.
Resolve fringe futures
United were unable to shift Phil Jones, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams before the transfer window closed, so moving them on in January will be vital. Ten Hag wanted to sign a right-back, to provide competition for Diogo Dalot, and if a target becomes available, United will move to strengthen in that position, with a new centre-forward also on his wanted list, particularly with Ronaldo's intentions and future still unclear.
Sancho and Rashford on song
Last season, when United's season unravelled on the pitch, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho went into a downward spiral in terms of their form, as did many of their team-mates. With both omitted from the latest England squad and in danger of missing the World Cup, Ten Hag must ensure his two young forwards do not let that setback affect their form for United and maintain their confidence and self-belief, after both made impressive starts to the new campaign.
