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“Our situation is quite favorable,” stated Erik ten Hag. Merely expressing the assertion may have indicated the deterioration of standards at Manchester United. United’s sixth-place finish barely satisfies Sir Alex Ferguson’s criteria for a respectable performance. Still, Ten Hag’s feedback was logical in nature. No expulsion of United from top-four competition has occurred. They may be below Newcastle and Chelsea in the standings, but the Tynesiders have every right to believe that their level of efficacy has been considerably higher than United’s; the Londoners may share this sentiment. Tottenham, who were lauded as early-season revelations, are currently only five factors ahead of United’s underachievers.

Ten Hag posited that the context elevated United’s markedly blended start beyond its customary stature. It is renowned that they have been awarded four of their last five league video games. “Considering the difficulties we encountered, we are in an exceptionally advantageous position,” he insisted. “This provides cause for optimism.”

However, do the reasons for optimism extend further than that? Ten Hag has every right to envision a brighter future for himself and his most formidable workforce. Luke Shaw could also return to action shortly, transforming him into an elite left-back. However, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are no longer viable options for 2023, and Raphael Varane appears to be out of his preferred lineup without the Argentinian as well. United are now awaiting the additions of Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund to the coaching staff. Although the £72 million striker has no Premier League aspirations, he appears indispensible given that Anthony Martial is his understudy.

On the contrary, one could argue that United’s league position is flattering. It is partially due to an inability to entice them with all-or-nothing rewards in video games; nevertheless, their five defeats may be more illuminating than their seven victories. The fixture schedule has been favorable thus far: seven of their twelve video games have been played at home. They have not achieved any victories in the current prime eight. They have performed with the majority of the stragglers and all three promoted ensembles. They must first defeat the in form Everton, then travel to Newcastle, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Liverpool, West Ham, and Aston Villa in order to reach the halfway point. United, however, must demonstrate they are capable of defeating premier groups by attempting to overcome fallible mid-table opponents who threaten to drop them out of the standings.

Indeed, each of these seven victories has been decided by a single goal; they may have been able to benefit from advantageous margins, and their expected total of 16.32 points is significantly lower than their actual tally of 21, which places them below Brentford and Everton in that particular standings. United have only experienced a solitary truly dominant performance thus far this season, which was in the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace.

Furthermore, points are abundant among the personnel. United have 13 league objectives one-third into the season, which is three fewer than Wolves and less than half of Villa’s total. United absurdly possess only one from advance. It may imply that droughts experienced by specific individuals will rapidly transform into flooding. “Ten Hag remarked, “Rasmus Hojlund scored five goals in the Champions League.” Last season, [Marcus] Rashford scored 30 goals.

He now possesses one. If Rashford was United’s player of the year heading into the final season, and while there have been several worthy contenders, the current pool is insufficient. Stop the marketing campaign immediately, and Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire, both of whom have revitalized their careers with United, could be the frontrunners for the Sir Matt Busby award. These are two players whom the membership has been willing to support at the appropriate price. It could be argued that no one else has performed adequately to merit a mention.

The United campaign hardly demonstrates a strategy that is on the verge of producing a phenomenal improvement. Ten Hag named two of his most expensive acquisitions from the summer, Sofian Amrabat and Mason Mount, to his bench for Saturday’s victory over Luton. Amrabat and Mount were positioned just behind McTominay in the queue for midfield positions in the absence of the injured Casemiro, and Antony was his largest acquisition, which has proven to be eternally disappointing. Rashford performed on the right flank, his third-best position; none of this appeared to be in Ten Hag’s summertime strategy, just as his summertime spending spree was intended to be profitable.

Ten Hag’s ad hoc lineups are the result of fortuitous circumstances (united players who have not missed games are quicker to be called upon than those who have missed games). However, they are also the result of shifts in perspective and determined pursuits of profitable components. Ten Hag would say that his defense has been decimated, which has an effect on the assault in terms of both the understanding and continuity that transmit protocols and Shaw and Martinez’s ability to escape the situation once more.

Conversely, defensively, there are distinct challenges. Despite Andre Onana’s lack of conviction, his most egregious errors have occurred exclusively in the Champions League. It is quite peculiar to observe that he has one of the highest save percentages in the Premier League, despite occasionally conceding in a damning fashion. If expected goals are considered, United should have conceded more. The numbers once more indicate that they are inferior than what the desk predicted. To put it briefly, the situation could have been more dire.

It may even aggravate. This should have been the straightforward portion. United have faced a Manchester derby in their final 12 matches across all competitions; however, the remaining 11 matches could have been won with the current roster of players from the previous season. Five of twelve were misplaced this year.

Now that the schedule of matches becomes more ominous, Ten Hag believes United could finish higher. He might also be correct; nevertheless, with the exception of the potential recovery of athletes, the last three months offer insufficient variety to generate optimism. The phrase “quite a good position” could very well define precisely one that is foul-prone.