It's fair to say Erik ten Hag has endured a stuttering start to life as Manchester United manager.
Through no fault of his own, the Dutchman's task looks even hard than it did when he was officially presented as the new Red Devils chief back in May. Speaking during that unveiling, he made clear his desire to strengthen his ranks and added: "The plan is huge and we only have a short time."
Yet, almost six weeks on and, as he brings the curtain down on his first week in pre-season with his new players, Ten Hag's squad is weaker than the one he inherited. He has lost big characters including Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic and has so far struggled to bolster his ranks.
