Roy Keane and Gary Neville have outlined what Erik ten Hag must do to turn Manchester United around as he prepares for a busy summer transfer window at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman is set to become the Red Devils' new manager ahead of the 2022/23 season and will join from Ajax, where he has won five major trophies so far. Ten Hag could also lift his third Eredivisie title, with the Amsterdam side currently five points ahead of PSV with four games to go.
However, Ten Hag will have a completely different challenge on his hands when he moves to United in June. The Red Devils have struggled for form and consistency throughout the campaign and are set to miss out on a place in the Champions League next season.
United have won just 15 of their 35 Premier League games to date and sit in sixth following Thursday night's 1-1 draw against Chelsea. Before the game, Keane assessed what Ten Hag's plans could look like as he begins to refresh the squad and help them challenge for more honours next term.
Keane told Sky Sports : "You look at this United team and what he will be looking at is you've got to get the group of players on side who are all in for the cause, who are hard to beat, hopefully have a style of play that gets the fans excited and used to winning. But as you know, we use the word rebuilding.
"He's fortunate to be coming in the summer when there are five or six players on big contracts leaving. I think that will help and I think every Man United manager will get backing, he will get some money to spend.
"But it is about getting the right players, the right characters into the club. What we have seen over the last few months haven't been good enough from this group of players. We talk about giving everything for the cause, these players don't do that."
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Neville added his thoughts on the need for a "really brutal" clear-out similar to that carried out by Jurgen Klopp in his early days at Liverpool.
The former right-back said: "Ralf Rangnick came here as a pressing guru and he's not been able to get anything out of them on that front, He's referred to their lack of physicality so many times in interviews. If Erik ten Hag is going to be really brutal like Jurgen Klopp was when he first went into Liverpool and got rid of Benteke, or when Joe Hart was let go by Pep Guardiola, he's going to letting a lot of this lot go because they can't press high up the pitch, they haven't got the physicality.
"They don't want to win the ball back early, they don't chase down and hunt together. You could put that down to a coaching thing but that's not happened under Ole and that hasn't happened under someone who is renowned for playing that type of system throughout his coaching career and other roles.
"I think there is going to be a massive, massive change and I can see more being let go in a brutal transition. When you see character and personality at Manchester City, there are players who aren't warriors, they aren't going round with stitches in their head but they are fantastic personalities and characters.
"The likes of Foden, the bravery of De Bruyne to always take the ball, they have always got a personality and a character even though they are not always shouters and screamers. I think the way Erik ten Hag will want personality and character are players who have authority on the ball and can go to Anfield like the Manchester United team didn't last week. Take the ball under pressure, make sure they handle that crowd, and do the basics of a good football team nowadays which is different to what we had."
