“No excuses” is the admirable mantra of Erik ten Hag as the manager surveys the wreckage of Manchester United’s early season. In football it is an adage applied unequivocally to injuries and illnesses: never cite the players unavailable as the reason for bad results because you will be cast as weak and lacking the imagination to navigate the alternative route to success with those you do have.
Like all truisms there is a limit. For Ten Hag to have 16 of his first-team squad go down at some point for the 10 games so far is the non-negotiable prevailing factor in United’s dismal form. The number is close to two- thirds of the 25-man Premier League squad clubs name each September for the opening half of the season.
