Three successive Premier League wins against Southampton, Leicester City and top-flight Arsenal have seen ten Haag’s principles become increasingly clear to the team. Despite losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad in the Europa League, the squad looks much stronger than it did six years ago, with Erik ten Hag seemingly settling on his preferred line-up, with a few tweaks. Marcus Rashford celebrates his first goal against Arsenal. (Alamy) Now, after United beat Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0, 15 of the club’s first team players have traveled to represent their respective countries as the international stages prepare for their first winter World Cup, in Qatar. Erik ten Hag, meanwhile, will get two weeks with the rest of the team to figure out his plan moving forward and spoke about how he plans to use the next two weeks. “We need to improve the structures in and around the club. We will also look towards the window in January or next summer already. But also to improve the way we play by making plans.” The fact that Erik ten Hag is already looking ahead to the next transfer window is a sure sign that he feels the squad is far from complete. Manchester United are clearly in need of another striker with Cristiano Ronaldo almost certain to leave next summer as his contract expires and depending on Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s future they will also be looking for a new right-back. Frenkie de Jong was a target he failed to land last summer and will almost certainly be on Erik ten Hag’s radar again for next summer, if not January. This break will also be a great time for Ten Haag to assess the other options in the squad, with eight of his preferred line-ups missing on international duty, leaving just David de Gea, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford (who was not called up due to injury) in Carrington. “There is coming a period where every third day: a game. We have to prepare for that,” Ten Hag added on Thursday. “Ninety percent of the players are missing (on international duty) – the others will train properly. We have to prepare. I hope everyone stays fit, comes back healthy and then we can attack.” With the season coming full of games, as Ten Haag pointed out, these next few weeks will be crucial for Ten Haag to get a good sense of what other players he has at his disposal to make sure the team can get through this the period. positive results. Next up for Manchester United after the international break is over will be the Manchester derby.
