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Man Utd look to build on pre-season optimism
- Author, Simon Stone
- Role, Chief football news reporter
There is an air of optimism around Manchester United ahead of the new season which does not quite stack up with how Erik ten Hag's squad is shaping up for the visit of Fulham.
Pre-season results were not great and, as Ten Hag pointed out in his pre-match press conference, it has been tough getting ready because of the fractured nature of his players returning and the injuries United have suffered.
United have won eight out of 11 opening Premier League games since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, which actually include some decent victories, over Tottenham, Chelsea and Leeds.
Evidently, they have rarely been followed up by consistently positive results so a victory at Old Trafford on Friday is clearly not essential.
However, given most of the optimism is centred around the new structures at Old Trafford, specifically the arrival of Dan Ashworth as sporting director, Jason Wilcox as technical director and Omar Berrada as chief executive, it would be helpful for that mood not to be punctured immediately.