Man Utd progress report: Best players, underachievers and season performance so far

• Man Utd have broken unwanted records during a dire start to the season
• Erik ten Hag was sacked in October and Ruben Amorim is poised to take charge
• Few players have managed to stand out for the right reasons

To say that Manchester United’s start to the season has been poor would be a gross understatement. After the first ten top-flight matches of the campaign, United boasted just 12 points, the club’s lowest return in the Premier League era.

Van Nistelrooy signed off his interim spell with a victory over newly promoted Leicester City, but the Red Devils are still languishing in 13th place, closer to bottom-placed Southampton than league-leading Liverpool.

One of the more recent issues among the litany that riddled Ten Hag’s reign at Old Trafford has been an inability to finish chances. United have scored just 12 goals in 11 league games – as many as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has managed on his own.

The three-time European champions have also struggled continentally. After opening their Europa League campaign with three invariably underwhelming draws, United earned a maiden victory at home to Greek outfit PAOK in November. With only half of the league phase remaining, United find themselves 15th in a 36-team table.

Best players

Picking the best player out of United’s ramshackle squad is like deciphering the hairiest bald man. In a summer that saw the Manchester institution back Ten Hag with an outlay of almost £180m, the cheapest arrival has arguably been the best.

Noussair Mazraoui instantly slotted into United’s backline, delivering a solid if unspectacular display on the opening weekend against Fulham just three days after his £15m signing was confirmed. Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench that night to create Joshua Zirkzee’s winner and has established himself as a regular at the sharp end of the pitch.

Even though his relationship with the fanbase has been strained at times this term, the Argentine is the only player in the squad with more than four goals. Amad Diallo has bolstered his modest scoring tally in recent weeks with a flurry of bright cameos while goalkeeper Andre Onana has avoided the blunders which defined his debut season.

Underachievers

United spent almost £100m on two players who boast just three Premier League starts between them. While Leny Yoro has the justifiable explanation of a pre-season injury to fall upon, Manuel Ugarte has no easy excuse.

The £42m recruit from Paris Saint-Germain started just once under Erik ten Hag, flailing around like a supermarket trolly with a broken wheel while Tottenham Hotspur romped to a 3-0 win. Ugarte was given more opportunities under Van Nistelrooy, but only served to expose his lack of confidence in possession under pressure. The former Sporting CP midfielder will be mightily looking forward to the arrival of his ex-coach, Amorim.

Bruno Fernandes has enjoyed a recent uptick in form, but a penalty and three goals against the Championship winners doesn’t entirely distract from a dismal opening three months. The Portuguese playmaker created just eight chances across his first eight league appearances of the season – for comparison, he was averaging more than three per game last term.

Unlike Fernandes, Marcus Rashford is still waiting to rediscover his former self. The desperately out-of-sorts forward remains locked on one Premier League goal despite appearing in every match this season – 68 players have outscored Rashford this term.

Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee have failed to live up to their hefty price tags while Antony is used for little more than a measuring stick of historic transfer flops these days.

Season expectations

Amorim had not even touched down in Manchester by the time he was already lowering expectations. After leading Sporting to a 4-1 Champions League victory over Manchester City at the start of November, the Portuguese sensation warned: “We cannot transport one reality to another. Manchester United cannot play the way we play and we will have to adapt.”

Those adaptations may take some time, given the considerable difference between Amorim’s ideals and the current makeup of United’s squad. Ten Hag arguably never implemented his preferred playing style during his entire two-and-a-half-year spell.

While Amorim’s arrival will likely inspire some sort of superior output – history suggests that any poor run of results is invariably followed by a regression to the mean – any sustained improvement will be difficult.

Amorim arrives with a lofty reputation littered with success. But as Ten Hag was all too eager to point out – he also came to Old Trafford boasting a large trophy cabinet.