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Put the calamitous start to the season and the frequent, sobering reality checks to one side and Manchester United’s first campaign under Erik ten Hag can already be filed in the ‘success’ category.
Huge strides have been taken under the Dutchman. Carabao Cup final glory ended United’s six-year craving for a trophy. The club remains on course to return to the Champions League via a top-four Premier League finish. And their continued participation in the FA Cup and Europa League could provide yet more silverware before the season is up.
United’s progress under Ten Hag is ahead of schedule and can be measured by the sense of what might have been this season, and what may still come, that permeates throughout the club.
Those fans who hailed the return of United’s glory days had their fingers burnt by the conclusion of one of the briefest Premier League title challenges in history, but to utter Manchester United in the same sentence as the title was a sign that times are changing.
Beyond this season Ten Hag is tasked with sculpting a future where Manchester United not only compete consistently for the Premier League but consistently win it. For those ambitions to be realised, a prolific striker, a missing piece of the jigsaw, must be acquired.
“Everyone is different, obviously, but for a striker the main thing is to score goals by any method, that is so far ahead of anything else,” Ten Hag explained.
“We need a striker who scores goals because we have ability in the team to put balls in the box, so we need a striker to finish.”
“We have to build a new future and we need a striker who not only scores goals but contributes by linking up play very well and pressing, which is very important.”
Who that striker should be remains up for debate, but securing a prolific marksman would insure against a repeat of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final collapse, where Sevilla were handed an unlikely route back into a tie which should have been all-but settled in United’s favour.
A cursory glance across the city at Erling Haaland’s exploits show just how valuable signing the right striker can be to a club’s fortunes. The Norwegian’s relentless strike rate has maintained Manchester City’s title defence when form may have suggested otherwise, ensuring their end-of-season surge has been in pursuit of the title, not merely Champions League qualification.
With Manchester United creating, and squandering, enough chances to satisfy the appetite of a striker of Haaland’s calibre, you can’t help but wonder how transformative such a signing would be on a squad plagued by their inability to consistently kill off games.
Reflecting on United’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla, Ten Hag added: “It says something about the position where we are. But we have to do it, always.”
While the acquisition of a striker may be the long-term solution, with the remainder of the season to navigate answers must come from within if United’s aspirations are to be realised.
“First it has to come out of the development of the team, so we are aware that when we are dominant in a game, we have to kill the game,” Ten Hag said ahead of United’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
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