Erik ten Hag is no longer Manchester United manager. After a saga that feels like it's gone on for years, the Dutchman has finally been shown the door at Old Trafford.

The club confirmed his departure on Monday following a 2-1 Premier League defeat to West Ham United, which left the Red Devils 14th in the table and just two points shy of the relegation zone.

It wasn't a disastrous run for the 54-year-old, who won the FA Cup last season and the Carabao Cup the year before. But lackluster performances in the league and Europe ultimately spelled his dismissal, and he leaves the club with a record of 72 wins, 20 draws and 36 losses in 128 games across all competitions.

Another Dutchman will be in charge until a permanent successor is appointed, with Ruud van Nistelrooy stepping up from assistant manager to take control in the dugout.

In his playing career, Van Nistelrooy scored 150 goals for the Red Devils across five seasons, and quality in front of the net is just one of the areas United will desperately need to improve upon.

But what else will be in the manager's in-tray when they take on one of the most high-profile jobs in football? Read on for a few areas of focus for the next person who will be trying to bring the glory days back to the red half of Manchester.

Increasing Confidence in Front of Goal

Diogo Dalot blazing a shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy against West Ham—after goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański had strayed from the net—was an encapsulation of Manchester United's woes in the last few months.

While other opportunities were also spurned—including an open header from close range from Bruno Fernandes—and Dalot is, let's not forget, a right back — United's failure to score even the simplest of chances has been a black mark in Ten Hag's copybook.

According to WhoScored.com, the Red Devils have scored 126 league goals since Ten Hag's arrival ahead of the 2022-2023 season. That's 1.48 goals per game in league play. To put that into further perspective, the publication pointed out that Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah have scored 118 between them since the Dutchman arrived.

After scoring just 57 in the 2023-24 league season, the joint-worst of any team in the top 10, United have just eight goals in nine games in this campaign, with only Crystal Palace (in 17th) and Southampton (in 20th) scoring fewer (6).

That's not all down to the manager, and Ten Hag himself regularly argued that his team was getting into the right positions to score, but it's still a notably awful statistic that doesn't shine a favorable light on his coaching abilities.

Better Recruitment

Ten Hag himself wasn't solely in charge of recruitment at Manchester United, with the board having the final say on who was signed and who wasn't. But his influence is all over the players who have been brought in during the last few years.

Ten Hag coached Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Antony, André Onana and Lisandro Martínez while at Ajax, so he had a significant say in their respective signings.

They have ranged from the relatively successful (Martínez) to the downright ridiculous (Antony), and it's more of the latter than the former regarding the other players acquired under the Dutchman's watch.

Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia have barely made the field because of injury, while Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee are strikers signed with an eye on the future when what United need is someone to put the ball in the back of the net right now. Perhaps the smartest signing during Ten Hag's reign was veteran Jonny Evans on a free transfer.

According to the BBC, United have spent nearly $780 million (£600 million) on talent since the Dutchman's arrival, and arguably, they've gone backward. Even for the second-richest club in world football, per Forbes' valuation, it's not a good look to be throwing money around and not getting results.

New sporting director Dan Ashworth will want to get in sync with the new manager to ensure that any future incomings are more critically assessed.

Implementing an Obvious Tactical Plan

Even going into his third season in charge, it was never particularly clear what style of play Ten Hag was trying to implement.

United frequently looked like they lacked ideas on the pitch, or at the very least were simply confused about what they needed to do.

Aside from miraculously outwitting Pep Guardiola in the 2024 FA Cup Final, which may have been more luck than judgment on reflection, there has been little evidence that Ten Hag's work on the training ground was making a difference on any given matchday.

The new manager will need to bring with them a clear philosophy for how they want their squad to perform, rather than simply referring to a "project" relentlessly without any signs of progression.

Bringing Back the Fight in Players

Search for "Manchester United" on most social media platforms and you'll see plenty of fans expressing frustration that players are demonstrating little will to fight for the club.

Of course, there is only so much we can glean about a player's feelings when they are trying to perform in front of thousands of cameras and tens of thousands of fans, but it certainly looks like the spirit has been drained from a lot of United's squad.

Willingness to try your hardest is certainly diminished when results aren't going your way, but for those who pay for their tickets, invest their time and money in the club, and turn up every weekend rain or shine, it's difficult to understand just how little heart you can have when wearing the famous United jersey.

New ideas, and perhaps a new manager bounce, can change the negative tide, and a different perspective might bring with it a little confidence. But the rot needs to be stopped from within, and it will take a lot more than some choice words to make United the fearsome prospect they once were under Sir Alex Ferguson.