Manchester United are hopeful of identifying their next permanent manager before the season ends, and the weekend draw with Leicester further highlighted just how big a task they will have on their hands in the first few weeks of the job.
United suffered from a lack of a cutting edge in the match, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani both missing through injury, while out-of-favour forward Marcus Rashford was not backed to start the game.
Ralf Rangnick admitted Rashford's 'lack of confidence' was a key reason behind his bench role, though it is hard to see how playing a strikerless system without him would ever help to restore his self-belief.
READ MORE: Ralf Rangnick explains what he has told Manchester United board about transfer targets
Rashford is not actively pushing for a move away from United but is considering his options ahead of the summer window, with the England international well aware that an improvement in form is essential if he is to travel to the World Cup at the end of the calendar year.
The next United manager will need to sit down with the 24-year-old to establish where he sits in the pecking order under the new regime, though Rashford might already be deemed irreplaceable by whoever takes over next.
Anthony Martial has hardly set the world alight for Sevilla, and as things stand, it seems unlikely the Spanish side will pursue a permanent move for him at the end of the season. Under a new manager, he might well have a fresh start at United, though it is hard to envisage any scenario where he gets a regular starting role.
With Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba all set to leave for free at the end of the season and Mason Greenwood still unavailable, those depleted forward options will only get worse, a problem Rangnick has warned the next manager about.
He said after the Leicester match: "We didn't score that late goal like we did in the games against West Ham or Tottenham. But as I said, we don't have that many offensive players any more."
It means United could head into the summer with just Ronaldo, Rashford and Martial to call upon in their forward line. It is clear to see why interim manager Rangnick has already recommended the club look to sign a younger forward at the end of the season.
Erling Haaland remains the ultimate dream addition in the eyes of Rangnick, though the club is under no illusion that he has much more appealing offers on the table. Harry Kane would be a huge statement of intent but would take a club-record fee to sign, while the club have made initial enquiries about Lyon forward Moussa Dembele.
Joe Hugill and Charlie McNeill have both impressed at youth level since joining the club two years ago, but they are still both incredibly raw talents who could be eaten alive in senior football if their first-team promotions are not nurtured carefully.
"Whenever the new head coach is clear, it has to be how does he want to play and what kind of players do we need for that?" Rangnick stressed at the weekend.
"Then we come back to DNA, speed, physicality, tempo, what do we need? This team does not lack technical players, it can do with more physicality.
"It has to be a bit in the DNA of a player, to be honest. It is difficult to change, shall I say a technically great player into a physical, aggressive player, and we have a lot of people who are technical players."
Ultimately, it will come down to the new manager to decide which players they want to bring to the club, but the honest assessment from interim boss Rangnick certainly offers plenty of food for thought about which positions need strengthening the most. With a lacklustre attacking line that is only going to get weaker at the end of the season, United really do need some forward thinking this summer.
