Erik ten Hag has been told he needs to address five things at Manchester United this summer when he arrives from Ajax.
United fans experienced yet another horror show at the weekend as Brighton and Hove Albion trounced the Reds at the Amex Stadium. Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard all found the back of the net in a convincing victory for the home side.
Defeat in Sussex meant that United will not qualify for next season's Champions League and they now have a battle on their hands to qualify for the Europa League with West Ham set to go above them if they win their game in hand. If he had been watching, Ten Hag will have be in no doubt on the size of the task ahead of him.
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According to Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy, there are five things which the Dutchman will need to do to turn the tide at Old Trafford. Speaking to The Punters Page, Murphy said: " He has to work tremendously hard on his philosophy and his tactics.
"He's got to try to get the players on board with it and work on their fitness, because they have to be stronger and sharper all over the pitch. There's real quality in the squad, and I'm sure he'll make a couple of good additions as well.
" He also needs to create an identity or a way of playing, because currently, there isn't one. They're not high possession and they're not a counter-attacking team, so it's hard to see what they are right now.
"They just rely on individual quality every so often, mainly Cristiano Ronaldo, so they need an identity back. Ten Hag needs a way of playing that he needs to stick to.
"If he needs to bring in players over the next year to 18 months, then fine, but that needs to be the way they’re going to play. If they’re going to be possession-based, he needs to see who gets on board with it - and if they don't, then he'll need to change tactics.
"The hunger and physicality need to come back, which comes from the fitness and the mentality of the players."
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