The many problems of Man United: SIX reasons why it’s falling apart for Erik ten Hag with mental vulnerability, off-the-field distractions, balance issues and Marcus Rashford’s form to blame

When Manchester United lost 4-0 at Brentford in Erik ten Hag’s second game as manager last year, it felt like their world was collapsing. Fourteen months later, United prepare to face Brentford again at Old Trafford on Saturday, and the latest crisis feels considerably worse.

Six defeats in the first ten games of the season have left the club in turmoil after their worst start since Alex Ferguson replaced Ron Atkinson 37 years ago.

There are boos from the terraces, confidence among the players is low and Ten Hag urgently needs to stop the rot before it gets out of hand.

So how did it get to this point? How did the ship that brought Ten Hag to a standstill after the defeat at Brentford get so catastrophically off course?

Mail Sport looks at some of the key issues that have seen United make the worst start to the Premier League era and start a Champions League group campaign with back-to-back defeats for the first time.

Walking injured

Injuries are part and parcel of football, but you can’t ignore the fact that a crippling casualty list has had a major impact on United’s performances.

As many as sixteen players have been out at some point since the preseason. That includes new signings Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat and Sergio Reguilon.

The defense has been particularly hard hit, with Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tyrell Malacia lost to long-term injuries. Raphael Varane has also been sidelined.

The absence of Shaw, Malacia and Reguilon means midfielder Amrabat has had to play out of position at left-back, and he has struggled in the last two games.

Back to the front

There has been a fundamental imbalance at United so far this season. Ten Hag’s team can be strong both defensively and offensively, but not at the same time.

In Saturday’s defeat to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford, United conceded very few chances but were unable to create. When they lost to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday, it was the exact opposite.

Hojlund scored twice and could have completed a hat-trick, Mount had two attempts blocked from close range before half-time and Marcus Rashford inexplicably failed to play in Bruno Fernandes when the United captain had an open goal in the second half.

No team outside the top 12 has scored fewer than United’s seven Premier League goals this season, while the 18 goals scored in the first ten games are the most since 1966.

Jeepers holders

Although new goalkeeper Andre Onana has only been directly responsible for one of those goals – Leroy Sane’s opener for Bayern Munich in the Champions League – the Cameroonian should see Ten Hag’s confidence in dumping David de Gea in the summer and signing his former Ajax goalkeeper cannot yet be justified. for £47.2 million.

Onana was brought in to improve United’s distribution from the back, but the lack of confidence among the 27-year-old and his defenders means United are once again hitting the ball long.

When Onana tried to cut short against Galatasaray, his weak pass to Casemiro was intercepted and the Brazilian conceded a penalty and was sent off for a second yellow card.

In Onana’s defence, he has suffered from not playing behind a set back four, with Martinez, Varane and Shaw sorely missed. Even when Martinez was available, he struggled with a recurrence of a foot injury that has now ruled him out for three months.

Unwanted distraction

In addition to the injury crisis, United were also without Antony and Jadon Sancho for part of the season due to off-field problems.

Antony was away from the club for three weeks on fully paid leave after facing allegations, which he strongly denies, from three women that he had assaulted them.

The player resumed training on Saturday and returned to action as a late substitute in the defeat to Galatasaray. But the problems have not gone away and his ex-girlfriend Gabriela Cavallin will speak to Greater Manchester Police on Thursday.

Sancho, meanwhile, has been training on his own for more than a month after Ten Hag banned the player from the first-team squad after publicly questioning his reasons for dropping the player against Arsenal.

Sancho is refusing to offer his manager the apology he wants and it looks increasingly likely he will leave the club in January.

Both issues have had an impact on team morale, with the players noticing that much of the unity built in Ten Hag’s first season has been lost.

Mind games

The other problem with United’s mentality is that the team struggles to maintain a lead when they are ahead and seems to fall apart when they fall behind.

United conceded a minute after taking the lead at Arsenal, four minutes after reducing the deficit at Bayern Munich, and relinquished the lead twice against Galatasaray.

The only exception is the comeback from two goals down against Nottingham Forest, but all three of United’s Premier League wins this season – Wolves, Forest and Burnley – have been unconvincing.

There is a vulnerability in the squad that wasn’t there last season as they recovered from a poor start to finish third and win the Carabao Cup.

Rashford in reverse

If one player sums up United’s decline this season, it is Marcus Rashford. The English man was unstoppable in Ten Hag’s first season and scored the highest score with thirty goals.

But after signing a new £300,000-a-week contract in the summer, Rashford seems strangely out of control.

He has struggled to establish a partnership with Hojlund, although he set up the Dane’s opening match against Galatasaray.

Rashford has also been criticized for being too greedy or choosing the wrong option, and that was the case at a crucial point in the defeat to the Turks.

Being sent clear in the second half, he had the choice of shooting or offering Fernandes an open goal. Rashford was in two minds and played a weak pass to Fernandes, allowing Sacha Boey to come back and play freely.

United need Rashford to be in top form if they are to turn their season around from here on out.