Erik ten Hag still needs time - no decision on Man Utd manager's future should be made until Christmas

United are in a near-identical situation at the start of this season as they were at the beginning of the last campaign, which proved to be their worst since 1990. They got a largely uninspiring home win over Fulham on their opening day which had some similarities to their first victory of last season against Wolves, and then sank to defeat in their first away trip against Brighton, giving them a familiar feeling to how they were beaten by Tottenham in their second game.

The conceding of Joao Pedro's last-gasp winner crystallised the sense of deja-vu, as it was the sixth time United had lost a Premier League game after the 90th minute under Ten Hag. And it did not take long for disgruntled fans on social media and pundits to quickly point the finger at Ten Hag and demand he be sacked. Former United players were not far behind.

Dwight Yorke claimed Ten Hag was "not an elite manager" and said he expected Ratcliffe to sack Ten Hag swiftly. "There will be no hiding place at United for Erik ten Hag, and even though he has been given a new deal, the club are expecting improved results very quickly," he said. "They have now lost to Brighton and scraped past Fulham and I expect Sir Jim Ratcliffe won’t hesitate to make a change."

United's minority shareholder should hesitate to act too swiftly with Ten Hag, though. Despite the familiar feeling to last season, the performances have been different, and better. The team looked solid against Fulham and the only on-target shots they conceded were efforts from outside the area, which were calmly tipped over the bar by Andre Onana.

It was a very different story to the ragged 2-1 home defeat by Fulham the previous season, when the Cottagers had 17 attempts, five on target. That was the game which sparked Jamie Carragher's brutal analysis of the way United played under Ten Hag, which he dubbed "low block, high press" and called, with some justification, "impossible".

United, who were outplayed at home by Brighton last season in a chastening 3-1 defeat, may have succumbed to the same ultimate result on Saturday, but, two defensive lapses aside, they looked more solid and more cohesive at the Amex Stadium.

They spurned good chances and had a goal that would have given them the lead ruled out for a freak offside. Even as United sunk to defeat in the relentless south coast rain, there were silver linings around the clouds.

The midfield looks tougher and more together, and is not getting repeatedly exposed on the counter-attack like last season. They are still creating the exciting transitional attacks of last season, though, with Amad Diallo's pace frightening opponents and Alejandro Garnacho looking like a real threat in the three appearances he has made off the bench. Indeed, there is a growing case for Ten Hag to drop Marcus Rashford and start Garnacho off the left of the attack, with Amad staying on the right.

United are also still integrating the new arrivals such as Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt, with the centre-back still yet to start a game. Nor has Zirkzee, even though he enjoyed a dream debut against Fulham.

The trio all missed the pre-season tour and need more time to get up to speed, while the team will soon gain some extra energy and power in midfield when Manuel Ugarte joins up with the squad after completing his move from Paris Saint-Germain.

Then there is the fact that starting centre-forward Rasmus Hojlund is still injured and Leny Yoro, the star defender who United beat Real Madrid to sign back in July, also suffered an untimely serious injury in pre-season.

Hojlund should be back in time for the trip to Southampton after the international break, with Yoro set to return between late October and early November. United's crippling injury crisis was a big factor in United giving Ten Hag another opportunity last season, so it is only fair that he is allowed to demonstrate what he can do with his first-choice striker and his biggest signing of the summer.

United’s next fixture against Liverpool might strike fear into some fans, especially given that the Merseysiders have made a strong start under Arne Slot, winning both of their games 2-0. But it is worth remembering that this fixture has often brought out the best of Ten Hag’s United, at least at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman’s first win as United manager came against Liverpool after he had made an even worse start to his debut campaign, getting beaten by Brighton and hammered by Brentford. That victory over the Reds lifted the mood and sparked a big turnaround in results which led to United finishing third.

Last season, United beat Liverpool 4-3 in an epic FA Cup quarter-final tie and drew 2-2 with them in the Premier League. Ten Hag is unbeaten at home to Liverpool and got a 0-0 draw on his last visit to Anfield when everyone expected his side to be hammered.

The less said about the 7-0 thrashing the previous season the better, but even Jurgen Klopp was able to admit that that was a freak result, with every Liverpool shot resulting in a goal.

Crunch matches against United’s biggest rivals, particularly those at home, often bring out the best of Ten Hag, as he demonstrated in last season’s FA Cup final against Manchester City and in his first season, when United beat Liverpool, City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Barcelona.

Ten Hag’s strategy and handling of the biggest games was another factor in Ratcliffe and his INEOS advisers keeping faith in him, and the manager has stressed that his side “can beat anybody” on their day. He admitted, though, that their biggest problem was beating what he called the “lower-class” teams.

The Brighton result served to underline his point, but it is too early to judge him and rather than talk of the sack, Ten Hag needs to feel that United fans and the higher-ups have his back. It might come with the territory of managing the biggest club in the world, that “colossal enterprise” which Ratcliffe referred to, but hyperbolic reactions to marginal results do not help.

Ten Hag was given the backing of Ratcliffe and Co., and now they need to give him time to show it was the right thing to do.