Recent history bodes well for Manchester United as they prepare for an FA Cup third round tie against Wigan Athletic on Monday night.
United have won 18 of 19 meetings against the Latics. Wigan's sole victory in this fixture was earned by Shaun Maloney's strike in April 2012. A decade on, the 40-year-old will be lining up as Wigan's manager rather than their winger.
In the opposite dugout, Erik ten Hag has been haunted by an endless stream of disastrous historical milestones. United lost 21 games across all competitions in 2023, the club's highest tally of defeats in a single calendar year since 1972.
Here's how Ten Hag can avoid beginning 2024 with another stumble.
Manchester United announced a spate of contract renewals in the week leading up to their trip to the DW Stadium. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Hannibal Mejbri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all extended their stay but there were some notable absentees from the list of triggered clauses.
While Anthony Martial's fate has long been up in the air, Raphael Varane joins his compatriot under a cloud of uncertainty after entering the final 18 months of his contract.
However, an unclear future should not distract from Varane's importance in the present. After returning from a bizarre exile, the Frenchman has been one of the few United figures to deliver some vague sense of confidence from his performances in recent weeks. Sticking with Varane even if Ten Hag has some more defensive personnel available from injury again is imperative.
«It is clear we are not consistent,» Ten Hag lamented after United's grim 2-1 reverse against Nottingham Forest last weekend. «Every time I say it doesn't matter how we line up, we have to win, but the routines are not there because every time we have to swap.
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