That night, Hague begins the second part of his mission in Manchester: we’re going in the right direction, but we want to be somewhere else

How will Manchester United deal with the end of Cristiano Ronaldo? That is one of the main questions for the second part of the Premier League season. The fifth team in the table returns to action on Wednesday night.

Manchester United will enter the second part of the season with a Carabao Cup match against second-tier Burnley. The Championship leader has promotion to the elite in its hands, plus it has already played two league rounds after the November break.

The Red Devils would like to tune up for the Premier League in the cup, which will return on December 26. Manchester will take on newcomer and 18th team in the table Nottingham Forest at home a day later.

It badly needs a win to keep pace with the Top 4. They are three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham but have one game in hand. The title fight that fans were boldly hoping for before the season is now a Champions League fight. Erik ten Hag’s charges are 11 points off the league lead.

“I knew it would be a difficult project. Manchester United was not in the situation you would expect from such a big club. Now we are moving in the right direction, but we are far from where we need to be,” the Dutch coach told GOAL ahead of the game against Burnley.

At least for the game against Burnley, the coach will not have stoppers Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, who are out of action after the World Cup final. A question mark also hangs over Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford.

In addition, it will be the first time in a year and a half that Cristiano Ronaldo, who has agreed to end his contract with the club, will not be part of the squad. So, Ten Hag will have to improvise at the tip of the attack, probably with the help of Anthony Martial.

Even though the media has not let Manchester United down in the autumn because of Ronaldo as well, Ten Hag can be satisfied for now. He’s within touching distance of guaranteeing a Champions League position, while also qualifying for the Europa League play-offs.

“I always say contentment will make you lazy. If you are too happy with yourself and the team, you don’t maintain a high standard. It’s up to me to control that and set a good example. We have to operate at high standards throughout the season,” added ten Hag

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