Improve the fitness levels

Solskjaer admitted publicly that he felt the squad he inherited from Mourinho was not fit enough to play a higher energy game. He set about changing things in his first pre-season when, on tour in Australia, data showed the high-intensity element of training increasing by up to 50 per cent on the same levels under Mourinho the prior year. But even under the Norwegian, United never looked equipped to sustain intensity levels in games and seemed to become less hard-working the longer he remained in the post. His interim replacement, Ralf Rangnick, one of the high priests of gegenpressing, recognised early on that the squad lacked the fitness and profile to press for much longer than half an hour, or a half at best, and has ended up constantly tweaking his systems to try to address such shortcomings. 

Ten Hag cannot expect to turn United into a high-energy, pressing team if the required fitness levels are not there to begin with and players are unable to meet the demands to run so the work United do in Manchester and on tour this summer, especially on the Australian leg of the trip in Melbourne and Perth where the temperatures will be cooler than Thailand, will be very important.

Run with a leaner, meaner squad

United’s squad is bloated and has been for much too long, with peripheral or out-of-favour players handed new contracts that were unwarranted or undeserved and others kept on long past their sell by date. Sir Alex Ferguson used to describe United as a “bus that waits for no man” but a survivor culture has taken root at Old Trafford these days – on the field as much as off it – when having a hungry, vibrant, motivated, competitive squad is critical to any hopes of success. 

Ten Hag must run with a leaner, meaner squad and supplement numbers, where required, with youngsters from the academy with a point to prove rather than ageing, disillusioned players picking up their hefty pay cheques. 

That, of course, will be more of a challenge if United end up in the Europa League or, God forbid, the Europa Conference League, and it will also place an added demand on players’ fitness levels – and the medical staff and injury prevention – but it is an essential formula going forward.

Do not compromise on recruitment

United have a Frankenstein squad assembled by four different managers and managed over time by six, including interims Rangnick and Ryan Giggs. It is an unwieldy hotchpotch of styles, none of which chimes with the bold, relentless attacking football that Ten Hag advocates and which United want to see back at Old Trafford, albeit with a modern bent. 

United operate a system whereby both the recruitment teams and manager have vetoes over signings but it is imperative that the club target players who specifically fit the system and style Ten Hag wants to play and that there are no compromises or deviations from that. United can ill afford more transfer mistakes or square pegs in round holes. Rangnick has complained about the lack of physicality, aggression and dynamism in the team and addressing those failings in the window from the start will be critical. 

Thorough profiling of targets – their DNA, mindset, character – will be just as significant. How often have you seen these players crumble when they suffer a setback in matches? Where is the resilience or the mentality and composure to deal with adverse moments? 

United have brought too many players to the club down the years who are simply unable to deal with the pressures, demands and rigours of playing for such a high profile club that is expected to push the bar every week and challenge consistently for the Premier League and Champions League.