Recruitment, identity and results - how do you fix Man Utd?

This month Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left) said the future of manager Erik ten Hag "is not my call".

Manchester United are looking for a new manager - again.

With the club 14th in the Premier League with just three wins from their opening nine matches, and 21st of 36 teams in the Europa League table, Erik ten Hag's managerial reign is over.

But what next for the 13-time Premier League champions? How do they go about restoring the glory days?

BBC Sport spoke to several pundits to discuss how to fix Manchester United.

What is the first thing the new manager needs to do?

BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty: The new manager needs to implement an actual tactical structure on a team that too often appears not to have one.

They need to lead on conducting a cull of the squad which carries too many expensive passengers.

In the case of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, they are ageing and past their best and there are still relics of dreadful past recruitment such as Antony. They need to work with the new Old Trafford hierarchy to improve on recruitment.

BBC Radio 5 Live commentator John Murray: From the supporters' perspective, they want the owners and people making the decisions to be tuned into what they want.

The supporters want a Manchester United team who excite and attack. A team that play on the front foot, even though it was over 10 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left. That desire is still there to play the way they used to.

They want a team who can go toe-to-toe with Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and other top clubs. They haven’t seen that with Erik ten Hag. I know when he inherited the team they were well off the pace. However, they have spent £600m and how much further along are they?

Former Blackburn striker and Premier League winner Chris Sutton: The new manager has to create an identity for the team, which is not something Erik ten Hag ever did.

That wasn’t his fault at the start but, more than two years in, we still didn’t know what kind of team they were under him, or what they were trying to do. They also need to find some consistency.

So, they need a recognisable style of play, and they need to start performing over 90 minutes, every week.

Former Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage: Managers are judged on recruitment. More than £600m spent while Ten Hag was manager and they have been miles off it. They have to get this right.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel: Manchester United this season - and for large parts of last season - did not score enough goals. They could do with someone just coming in and really simplifying things.

What are the qualities the new manager needs?

McNulty: First things first, he will need a clear vision, giving the team the identity it has never had under Erik ten Hag. He will need to be strong-minded to work within the new set-up, working in tandem with it while marrying his own ideas on to those above him.

He will need to be strong enough to deal with the unique pressures and scrutiny of managing Manchester United and not be haunted by shadows of the past – although the recent lack of major success will make his task a little easier.

Murray: We saw the qualities when Tottenham played against them recently. A fearless manager like Ange Postecoglou, who will set out to attack and play fearless football.

There has been too much fear around becoming the Manchester United boss. You have to deal with not only the pressure on the pitch but the global expectation. The defeat by Spurs last week gave a glimpse into what the United fans want to see from their team.

Sutton: Without a shadow of a doubt, he will want to come in and put his own stamp on the team, and bring his own players in but, until that happens, he will have to make do with the players already at United.

The biggest and most important thing for whoever gets the job will be creating an identity, but does he have the players to immediately play the way he wants to?

I look at their midfield and ageing players like Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, and they are not able to press the way some managers would want them to.

Right now it is about someone coming in and building slowly because as far as I can see they don’t have the players to do anything drastically different.

For starters though, the new manager needs to be able to get the team organised quickly, and get his message across.

Schmeichel: It is probably the hardest place in the world to play football. To be the manager you have to be mentally strong. The pressure on Manchester United players and managers is relentless. Everything you do is under the microscope.

We've tried the big managers, the big names and it hasn't worked out. I don't mind that we appoint the next one who is just a coach - takes care of the team, has an input but looks at the solution. It is the modern way to do that, so why not consider it?

I think it's an attractive job - the playing staff isn't terrible. There just isn't a structure that can be leaned upon. Are we pressing? Are we keeping the ball? Someone who spends all their time on the training pitch, I think that is a good idea.

What would success look like this season?

McNulty: It should have looked like Champions League football next season via a top-four place but that already looks like a stretch. If this is achieved now that would represent big success, but in reality success this season would be a place in Europe next season and perhaps winning a cup, either in the domestic tournaments or the Europa League.

Murray: Challenging for a Champions League place and a run in the cups, along with some notable victories. When it comes to Erik ten Hag, I still had sympathy for him when he was asking for time.

Yes, they have spent £200m this summer and he had some new players still waiting to bed in. Now he is sacked, he may feel like he didn’t get an opportunity. However, a lot of the supporters may feel that he had his chance and it was time for change.

Sutton: United are 14th but they are only seven points off the top four. Of course they could still make the Champions League places from here, but how they would do that is the big question. From what we’ve seen from this team so far, it is not realistic.

What they need first and foremost is some consistency in their league performances to show they are heading in the right direction.

Ten Hag’s post-match interviews, where he claimed his side were making progress and everyone could see it, became ridiculous by the end.

For the new manager, success is about making actual progress in small steps this season, and then building again for next season.

At the moment, though, it is bigger than that because the direction the whole club goes in now depends on [part-owners] Ineos getting this next decision right. They made a huge mistake in the summer when they stuck with Ten Hag, and they can’t get this wrong too.

Savage: They are miles off challenging for titles. They are 21st in the Europa League table - that is astounding.