Erik ten Hag's preference for Eredivisie players has left Man Utd with a weakened squad - Sir Jim Ratcliffe must bring flawed transfer strategy to an end

The Eredivisie has long lagged behind Europe's top-five leagues (the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1), and between 2016-17 and 2018-19 it was ranked outside the top 10 by UEFA, below Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and even Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

It has grown in stature in the last three years, rising to sixth last season, but it is still unusual for United to draw so heavily from it. Given that the level is deemed lower than in Germany, France, Spain and Italy, it is perhaps unsurprising that a few of the signings have struggled in making the step up to the Premier League.

Five of United's signings in the summer of 2022 came directly from the Eredivisie, and Martinez was the only player who seemed to adapt well to life in the Premier League, despite initial concerns about his height. The Argentine made up for his lack of stature due to his excellent technical skills and ability to make incisive passes out of defence, although this season he struggled as a result of the metatarsal injury he picked up last April, suffering a reoccurrence of the problem in September that has ruled him out until the new year.

Malacia was a key player for Feyenoord, who finished third in the 2021-22 season, notching four assists and a goal. When Ten Hag looked within the Eredivisie for a player to give competition to Luke Shaw, he was the natural choice and was available at a reasonable price of £13 million ($16m).

But he experienced a lot of problems in his first campaign with United, soon losing his place to Shaw and then making costly errors against Sevilla and Tottenham. According to The Athletic, Malacia's struggles were little surprise to members of Wales' coaching staff, who had identified him as a weak link due to his lack of physique when they faced the Netherlands in a Nations League match in 2022, and had tried to give the ball to Brennan Johnson as much as possible in order to put him under pressure.

The travails of Malacia, who has not played any football this season due to an injury sustained in June, appears to underline the gap between the English and Dutch top-flights. But he is not the only one.

Antony has been an even bigger flop than Malacia, especially considering United paid an eye-watering £85m ($106m) to sign him from Ajax on transfer deadline day, despite only being valued at £55m ($68m) at the start of the summer.

Antony cost United so much as Ajax were reluctant to let him go given he was such a crucial part of their team, having scored 18 goals and set up 14 in 57 appearances in the Eredivisie. He got off to an excellent start in England, too, becoming the first ever United player to score in his first three appearances for the club.

But Premier League opponents did not take long to work Antony out and defenders quickly managed to prevent him from pulling off his favourite trick, cutting in from the right wing and shooting with his left foot. Having scored three times in his first month at United, the Brazilian then went six months without scoring again in the league or providing an assist.

His second season has been a farce. He has not scored nor laid on an assist in any competition, and gave the club a deeply uncomfortable situation to deal with when he was accused of assault by his former girlfriend and two other women.

He is looking like United's worst-ever signing, even outdoing Alexis Sanchez, and the worst thing about his dire time at United is that Ten Hag campaigned so vociferously to sign him, believing him essential to putting his style of play into action.

Antony is the last player United signed directly from the Eredivisie, but Ten Hag has continued to look to his home country when he is on the lookout for a new player.

After Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in disgrace in November 2022 and with no funds left after spending so much in the previous transfer window, the United boss turned to Weghorst, who had just scored twice in the World Cup for the Netherlands against Argentina.

Weghorst had had an unhappy previous spell in the Premier League with Burnley, but that did not put Ten Hag off and he signed him for United on loan, continuing to start him despite his lack of impact. The striker left United with no Premier League goals despite being given 17 appearances, his greatest moment being when he ran the length of the Wembley pitch to celebrate with supporters after the FA Cup semi-final shootout win over Brighton.

There was even a Dutch angle when United signed Mount from Chelsea for £60m ($75m), another transfer which has been a huge disappointment. Ten Hag came up against the England international when he was on loan from Chelsea at Vitesse in the 2017-18 season and was believed to have left a real impression on the losing manager in a surprise 3-2 win over Ajax.

Mount has obviously gone on to far bigger things since then and was one of the best players in the Premier League just two seasons ago. His spell in the Eredivisie is a mere coincidence rather than the reason why Ten Hag signed him.

Nonetheless, the fact that Ten Hag had seen him with his own eyes when he was a developing talent chimes with the overriding theme of the manager wanting to sign players he has watched first-hand and taken a liking to, rather than been recommended by scouts.

The signing of Amrabat appears to confirm that suspicion. Ten Hag coached the Morocco international for two years at Utrecht and the midfielder, who was 19 when he started to break into the team, hailed the United manager as "one of the most important people in my career". Ten Hag's personal relationship with Amrabat appeared crucial to making the deal happen just hours before the transfer window shut.

Amrabat was one of the stars of the 2022 World Cup and a hugely influential figure for surprise package Morocco, but he did not have the best of campaigns for Fiorentina after the tournament, and it is telling that the only other club to show any interest in signing him was Galatasaray. When United faced the Turkish giants in October, Amrabat was outpaced by Wilfried Zaha and Dries Mertens and was one of the biggest culprits in the Red Devils' late collapse.

The other culprit on that dramatic night at Old Trafford was Onana, who was Ten Hag's No.1 goalkeeper for the majority of his time with Ajax. The Cameroon international was signed due to his ability with the ball at his feet and to build from the back, but his weaknesses in the more traditional facets of goalkeeping have been laid bare in a harrowing opening three months with United.

Onana is particularly vulnerable when left one-on-one with a striker and has often seemed incapable of narrowing down the angles for his opponent or knowing when to come out of his six-yard area. Did Ten Hag's long working relationship with Onana and his role in Ajax's three league titles prevent him from spotting these glaring holes in his game?

A proper scouting department and vigilant football and technical directors could have helped flag these vulnerabilities, but for a long time there has been the impression that United have been enthralled by their manager, giving him the final say in transfer decisions.

It is now up to Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues, who pride themselves at being at the forefront of data analysis and innovation, to keep Ten Hag in check and revamp United's recruitment processes. Ratcliffe has not been shy in stamping his authority on United even before sealing his 25 percent stake in the club, removing Richard Arnold as chief executive and preparing to fire football director John Murtough too.

The early signs are that the incoming regime will keep the faith with Ten Hag as they believe he can get United firing again and ensure they reach the heights they scaled last season again. The Dutchman has done many things right in his 18 months in charge and should be allowed to continue the process of raising the club's standards and discipline which he has already began. But he needs to temper his habit of looking inwards and back towards his home country, which is holding the team back.