It's always darkest before the dawn, apparently. And the first XI Erik ten Hag clapped eyes on illustrates how bleak it was compared to the optimism that abounds at Man Utd just over a year later...
A season and half a summer later, we ought to reflect on how much progress Ten Hag as made on this particular job.
Perhaps it was the best time for Ten Hag to step in because it certainly felt like United could not sink lower. Yes, they still finished that 1-0 defeat in possession of a ticket to Europe the following season but only because of results elsewhere. The last of a series of nadirs, many more spectacular than a limp, end-of-season defeat played out in shades and sliders, was a perfect illustration of how hopeless United had become.
Ten Hag needed a core of new players. There were some talents and reputations worthy of salvage but not enough to comprise an XI. The new manager’s arrival came at the same time United suddenly showed some competency in the transfer market – not likely to be a coincidence – as well as some of the more baffling behaviour that we’ve become accustomed to in the last decade. Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Eriksen gave United their best hit rate in years.
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