Tottenham’s visit to Old Trafford on Sunday at least presents opposition who have endured a similarly underwhelming start to the season, while next Thursday’s trip to Porto pits United against a side who surprisingly lost their Europa League opener to Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt.
After that is a very difficult trip to Aston Villa when United must look to avoid entering a second international break in a row with mutterings around Ten Hag and his management.
On the plus side, United’s defence, which looked so shaky last season, has improved. Their goals-per-game conceded rate is below one, which is better than in either of their two previous seasons under Ten Hag, and that is despite conceding three in that home defeat by Liverpool on 1 September.
Ten Hag continues to state his team are improving and any issues are short-term concerns. But while he doesn’t tend to talk about it, last season’s eighth place has not been forgotten.
He still has time on his side but time, as with any manager, can soon start to drift away if results and consistency remain elusive.
«We are very ambitious and when you have ambition, you have to perform,» Ten Hag said. «Especially today, in the second half, we were too complacent. We didn’t bring it over the line and as a team, you have to do this.»