After Manchester United’s worst start in nearly a decade in the Premier League, Erik ten Hag said he is feeling the strain.

United’s 3-1 home loss to Brighton means that Ten Hag’s squad, which started the season with six points, has now lost three of its first five league games.

This is United’s poorest start to a season since 2014, when they had five points after eight games under Louis van Gaal. When asked if he felt pressure, Ten Hag replied, “The pressure is always there.” It was the same last year, and it is the same this year.

Wins are mandatory at United, of course. We must advance, and I can’t afford to be sidetracked. We need to get better. Every person must do their part. You just have to accept the fact that you will inevitably go through rough patches.United will next play on Wednesday in Germany against Bayern Munich and Harry Kane in the Champions League. With four goals in as many Bundesliga games since his £100 million summer transfer to Bayern, Kane is on fire, and Ten Hag knows United have their work cut out for them.

“We have to be good in Bayern Munich because they are one of the favorites to win the Champions League,” Ten Hag added. “But I think I have already explained what we need there; we need character, belief, resilience, and determination – absolutely.”

United’s Champions League match in Munich takes place during Oktoberfest, the largest bееr festival in the world. With the German champions and Kane set to add insult to ιnjury, the 3,779 United fans making the journey will undoubtedly want to drown their sorrows.

Despite United’s improvement last season under Ten Hag’s leadership, the United manager was understandably reticent to hype his team’s Premier League title hopes in the buildup to the current season.

United have lost three of their last five games and are now nine points behind league leaders and defending champions Manchester City. In contrast to Brighton, who have already won four consecutive Premier League games against United, Ten Hag’s demoralized squad shows no signs of urgency, cohesion, or bravery.

Lucky to have six points, United. United were outplayed by Wolves in their season opener, with a late header from Raphael Varane giving United a victory they did not earn. United were down 2-0 to Nottingham Forest just four minutes into the game, but they came back to win 3-2 thanks to a penalty kιck that was allegedly won by Marcus Rashford diving.

A setback to Tottenham sat between those two fortunate victories, and subsequent defeats to Arsenal and Brighton exposed United’s many flaws. United’s star players, who were supposed to step up in the clutch, failed to do so. Casemiro, who had been rather ineffective, was taken out just after the hour mark. Meanwhile, captain Bruno Fernandes provided no leadership, and Rashford, who had started well, eventually faded.

United are in disarray both on and off the field. As he fights charges of physical viоlence, Brazilian winger Antony is unavailable for selection. Jadon Sancho, another winger, has been essentially suspended and is training on his own after criticizing Ten Hag on social media for leaving him out of the group that lost to Arsenal.

Both of these incidents stem from United’s poor treatment of Mason Greenwood, who was loaned out after the club abandoned attempts to reintegrate him due to public outcry. Even though United’s hated current owners, the Glazers, have asked for bids for the club, the projected takeover issue has dragged on for 10 months.

All of this adds up to a crisis for a club that has been struggling since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned a decade ago, just after United won the Premier League for the last time.

While United’s last season’s improvement hinted that Ten Hag would be the guy to rescue them from mediocrity, the team’s results this season suggest otherwise. The demise of United is entirely the fault of the Glazers. As this season has shown, United have gone from being the country’s dominant football force to a side that is now feared by no one due to a lack of sufficient investment in the squad and infrastructure of the club.

United will never live up to the lofty expectations set by its illustrious past so long as the Glazers remain in charge. Until there is real leadership and a clear strategy at the top of the club, as there is at Brighton, United will continue to lag behind.

Only Ferguson can sаy for sure what he thinks of the current predicament. United’s all-time winningest manager, along with the club’s previous CEO David Gill, were in attendance at a function 300 miles away in St. Andrews, Scotland.