Erik ten Hag has kept his ruthless promise but Manchester United have let him down

Erik ten Hag's arrival promised a revolution and he delivered.

It was no easy task. The new Manchester United manager was in the stands on a sunny London day in May 2022, watching on as his new club's season ended in fittingly dismal, dull fashion with a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. It was the suitable result to cap off the club's worst-ever Premier League campaign.

Ten Hag had a mighty job on his hands to turn a rabble of disorganised and ill-disciplined players low on confidence into a cohesive unit that could perform but he managed it. There were significant speed bumps along the way but United returned to the Champions League and ended the trophy drought.

You couldn't ask for much more from a debut season but with success comes heightened expectations and Ten Hag has much higher targets in his second campaign. Targets that, going off the first week, will be difficult to fulfil.

Also read: Where United stand with incomings and outgoings

The opening two games have been humbling. They were outmatched by Wolves, who had changed their manager five days earlier, and were very lucky to escape with a win. It hardly felt like one and the mood had lowered after a summer of optimism. The following week they were soundly defeated by Tottenham, a team who had just lost Harry Kane but looked to already know what it was doing under a new manager.

Ten Hag has been there for over a year but his side doesn't look complete. The midfield set-up he has tried to implement with Mason Mount hasn't worked and he is having to again play Marcus Rashford in an ill-suited striker role because new signing Rasmus Hojlund is out.

Just like a year ago, a stinging defeat in London saw United move to improve their squad but unlike last year when