Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United has had five permanent managers.
There have been times when the club seemed to be moving in a different direction.
They are further away from challenging for major honours than they have been since Ferguson first arrived at the club.
Ten Hag is in a good position. Structural issues are the real problem at Old United and until they are sorted, any manager will find the job hard.
This is the chance for the 52 year-old to prove that he is capable of transitioning from a club in a less competitive league to one at the highest level of the game.
There are a number of challenges for Ten Hag to overcome.
The progressive style of Ten Hag and his willingness to work with a director of football made him more in tune with what is now at Old United.
Ten Hag is going into an alien world.
He has never experienced the unique demands of English football, where energy-sapping game follows energy-sapping game, where success only increases the brutality of the schedule and where room for rest is virtually non-existent.
So far, they have had five domestic matches. Even though they experienced early exits in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, United will have at least seven this season.
In the three weeks before the winter break, United had five games called off because of Covid.
The pre-season trip to Thailand and Australia will be important for Ten Hag to get his ideas across.
The chance of making up for lost time will be limited as most of his players will be on international duty anyway, so he needs the players to buy into his philosophy immediately.
There is a lot of attention given to the enormous salary and superstardom of the man.
The Portuguese has scored 21 goals for United this season, but unless Ten Hag finds a consistently productive way of using the 37 year old, five-time world player of the year, or gets rid of him completely, progress will be difficult.
It is an issue for Ten Hag because of the clear physical limitations that prevent United from operating a high press or the relationship that has developed with Harry Maguire over the club captaincy.
The Dutchman has never been able to manage anyone with either history or ego. He needs to get this right.
It's easy to come up with a list of 10 United players who could leave this summer.
Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, and Paul Pogba are all out of contract. Phil Jones runs to 2023 but he has not played in more than two years.
There is goalkeeper Dean Henderson, central defender Eric Bailly and England forward Marcus Rashford, who have been the subject of intense speculation over their Old United future.
Anthony Martial, Brandon Williams, and Donny van de Beek were not given a chance when they were on loan.
Amad Diallo has not done anything in his loan spell at Rangers to suggest he is a United first-team player.
Even if not all the named players leave, there are going to be a lot of holes to fill.
It may be difficult to find the right quality at United.
United finishing in the top four and winning a domestic cup would represent an excellent return for the team in their first season.
The last time United won a trophy was in 1983 when they last won a trophy.
If they don't finish in the top four this season, it will be the fourth time in the last nine years that they have not been involved in the league.
One of the reasons why Ten Hag needs to be given time to implement his ideas and bring about tangible improvement at the club is because they used to be second nature.
This is Manchester United. There is a lot of noise around Old Trafford. Ten Hag needs to prove he is the right man for the job.
Four games without a win leads to talk of a crisis and that will not change. Positive performances will allow time to be granted.
It is clear that United's recruitment is a major issue.
There are contracts for the likes of Bailly and Jones, as well as the arrival ofRonaldo, which came after Solskjaer had spent months persuading Cavani to stay at the club for an extra year to be the major attacking focal point.
These were handed out for no reason other than to try and earn a transfer fee for players who had no long-term future at the club.
Few recent purchases have impressed and those who did initially, like Maguire and Wan-Bissaka, regression to the extent of losing their place in the side, and face widespread calls to be dropped in the former.
The continuity that has helped make Manchester City is highlighted by the interim boss.
It was accepted before the season began that United needed a defensiveMidfielder.
Despite committing over 180 million dollars on Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof, United are still weak in central defence.
They need more from the players they already have.
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