'United - and others - will not be at their best on day one'

This might be a familiar refrain amongst Premier League managers over the next few days but you can see where Erik ten Hag is coming from when he says his team is not ready for the start of the season.

Around half of Manchester United's squad returned for the start of pre-season training six weeks ago.

They were joined a couple of weeks later by some of their international players, meaning the bulk were in the United States for the club's three-match tour, which included extensive training sessions at UCLA.

New striker Joshua Zirkzee was in a small group who started their pre-season under the direction of Steve McClaren prior to the first-team squad returning to the UK. They were joined by the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez, who reached the finals of international competition with England and Argentina respectively.

It meant there were just four full sessions ahead of the Community Shield and now United have signed Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, who have had just two training sessions ahead of the Fulham game.

Little wonder Ten Hag has to think carefully about the team he picks to play a Fulham side that won at Old Trafford last season.

Sympathy will be in short supply for a club with United's resources. But still, it is a valid argument. United - and others - will not be at their best on day one.