Manchester United will kick off their Premier League campaign against Fulham this evening, with manager Erik ten Hag coming into the fixture knowing that he is already under serious pressure before a ball has even been kicked.
United had an incredibly disappointing campaign last time around, finishing eighth in the league and crashing out of two European competitions in a poor manner. They would win the FA Cup to finish off the season, something that likely kept ten Hag in a job over the summer.
In saying that, the club's new owners will be expecting to see a much better showing in the Premier League this time around.
The club have made a number of signings during the summer transfer window, with Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, and Noussair Mazraoui all arriving for significant fees. Of course, Yoro would suffer an injury in pre-season that will keep him out for a number of months, while de Ligt and Mazraoui only completed their moves earlier this week.
Couple that with injuries to key first team players such as Luke Shaw and you get the sense that Manchester United are not ideally prepared coming into their Premier League campaign.
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Erik Ten Hag Getting Excuses In Before Manchester United Opener
Erik ten Hag will need a strong start this season to silence murmurings about his future at Manchester United, although he is already suggesting that he is not in an ideal situation to succeed as things stand.
Speaking ahead of the game against Fulham, ten Hag would suggest his side are 'not ready' for the new campaign due to factors such as injuries and a shorter pre-season.
It's true it's not the pre-season where you can in five, six weeks work on the team.
We had the USA tour squad, then we add the players who did the Euros and Copa America, and now new signings and now we have to make a team from it.
That team is not ready, but the league starts - and there are more managers to deal with this problem.
We definitely have this problem but, still, we have some rules, some principles and we have to make a start. We can't hide ourselves, we can't run away from it, so we have to deal with it...
Issues are there but it's not about the players who are not available. It's also what I said always last season.
It's about the players who are available and we have a good group, we can make a strong selection, we can put out a strong team so we will do.
Erik ten Hag was heavily criticised at times last season for the excuses he made in order to justify Manchester United's poor form, with their supporters hoping that they will not be forced to suffer through a similar scenario during the new campaign.
A convincing win in tonight's game would certainly be a good starting point.
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