Erik ten Hag has three weeks to save Manchester United's season

This is the glaring truth that faces the new manager. The evidence is searing: nothing much has changed since the dog days of last term

FINGER OF BLAME: Manchester United's Dutch manager Erik ten Hag speaks to his players during the match between Manchester United and Brighton. Pic: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images

Erik ten Hag: you have three weeks to save Manchester United’s season. Sound ridiculous after only 90 minutes of Premier League action, even if that was a dire 2-1 home defeat by Brighton on Sunday – their first ever home loss against those opponents in 113 years?

Of course it does, but this is the glaring truth that faces the new manager. And it certainly does not help that Ten Hag’s ability to rebuild an embarrassingly mediocre squad is materially affected by two branches of the executive: the smarts of football director, John Murtough, and the desire of the Glazer family to splurge a serious amount of cash.