Ratcliffe revamps Manchester United but Ten Hag's trouble continues

It feels like Groundhog Day for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag.

Another season has hit crisis point after only a few games.

Perhaps that's why the United manager was so dismissive of the renewed pressure on him after last week's humbling 3-0 loss to Tottenham.

Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about because I experienced it so often with my teams during seasons that you are facing those problems, he said this week.

He is right.

United's record of three losses after six English Premier League games is in keeping with his two previous campaigns at Old Trafford.

In 2022, he lost his opening two and three of the first seven.

In 2023 it was even worse, as United lost three of five at the start.

Both of those seasons ended with a trophy, but the feel-good factor provided by the most recent silverware May's FA Cup triumph against Manchester City - has long evaporated in the face of the likelihood that United's 11-year wait for the league title is set to go on.