One of the misconceptions we discuss sometimes in the media is around whether players are fighting for the manager.
You could just phrase that however you want. You could say: are the players fighting for each other? Because in fighting for each other it looks like they are fighting for the manager.
With Manchester United, to see them down there as one of the lowest scorers in the Premier League with the attack and talent that they have is alarming. Defensively, at times, they have also not looked great and teams have sliced them open.
To call this an underwhelming start to the season would probably be an understatement.
But Erik ten Hag is always very bullish. He always believes there is something better there, it is just that they do not show it consistently.
I would expect them to be doing better and you then ask whether it is the players or whether it is the manager.
Well, at times like this, it is everyone involved and everyone probably understands that it can – and should – be going better.
It is over two years into this managerial reign. For many, if this is the level that they can get to while having these same conditions, then I imagine some people would be very keen for there to be a change.
However, we see the same names pop up to replace Ten Hag – whether it is Thomas Thuchel or Gareth Southgate – and I don’t know how they would work with the hierarchy that exists at United.
Other teams of a similar scale have been significantly successful over the past five or 10 years, whereas we are approaching year 11 or 12 since United won a Premier League and that is alarming considering how dominant they were when competition first started.
You just do not know what kind of fit a new manager would be for the players, the staff and the developing nature of the football club now under the new part of ownership.
One thing is for sure, however: the club needs a spark. Ten Hag must somehow find that spark again – or United must find it from elsewhere.
Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport’s Nicola Pearson
