Erik ten Hag does not quite have his feet under the table at Manchester United, but they are through the door and looking to take positive strides in the opposite direction to which those before him have been heading.
Setting out down that path will not be easy, with plenty of assistance required in order to ensure that he reaches the required destination. For now, that would be a top-four finish in the Premier League and a serious tilt at a couple of trophies.
A trusted backroom team have been drafted in alongside him at Old Trafford and, with transfer talk ticking over nicely, anyone fancying the Red Devils to be a little more devilish than they have been of late can take advantage of a new customer offer that delivers up to £30 at Betfair and nail their colours to a mast that has United at 5/4 to secure Champions League qualification in 2022-23.
The Erik ten Hag era begins at Manchester United ? pic.twitter.com/HWQF7B2b0V
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 23, 2022
That really should be the bare minimum requirement for a side with 13 Premier League titles on a glittering roll of honour, but closing that line has been easier said than done for those who have bridged a coaching gap between the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and a new trusted tactician in the form of Erik ten Hag.
If the Dutchman is to deliver on his remit, then everybody is going to have to start pulling in the same direction. Positive leadership on and off the field will be required in order to ensure that United steer themselves back out of the wilderness.
Skipper call
Ten Hag showed in his homeland at Ajax that he knows how to unite a talented squad behind a collective cause, allowing major silverware to be collected on a regular basis. Replicating the success he enjoyed in Amsterdam while calling the shots in Manchester will test his credentials to the fullest.
Fortunately for him, he can call upon the considerable abilities of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, David de Gea and Harry Maguire, to name but a few.
They are, as things stand, the most experienced and proven candidates for a captaincy role at the so-called Theatre of Dreams. An England international defender has filled that position in recent times, but will he remain in charge of a prestigious armband heading forward?
Thumbs up from the skipper! ??#MUFC | #LEIMUN pic.twitter.com/48TC3W29Sd
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 16, 2021
That is one of several big calls that ten Hag will need to make quickly and decisively if any early obstacles in his reign are to be avoided.
Predecessors from David Moyes to Ralf Rangnick via Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have often struggled to find a winning formula. Consistency has proved elusive, and that has directly impacted results.
Ten Hag is known for his no-nonsense approach to management and now needs to prove – with the assistance of a few shrewd additions – that he can succeed where others have failed.
He is now the man at the wheel in Manchester, but who is he going to get to do the navigating beside him? Will he appoint a new skipper and will fresh faces be drafted in to interpret his messages where it matters most – out on the field? Those are some big questions that United fans are still waiting on answers to.