Stop playing Marcus Rashford up front! Winners and losers as Man Utd's dreadful display at Tottenham piles pressure on Rasmus Hojlund to sort out this mess

In the space of only a few months, Marcus Rashford has gone from being Manchester United's talisman to a blunt knife. After the best-ever season of his career, in which he scored 30 goals in all competitions for the first time, Rashford has made a miserable start to the new campaign.

He was ineffectual against Wolves and even worse here against Tottenham. He only had three efforts all game, one which was blocked, one which was easily saved by Guglielmo Vicario and, worst of all, headed over the bar when unmarked after a dream cross from Bruno Fernandes.

To be fair to Rashford, he has made it clear he prefers to play off the left of the attack. Hojlund's back injury and Anthony Martial's poor fitness record has given Ten Hag little choice, however, and United's highest-paid player needs to step up.

He also did not help himself by kicking up a fuss when he was brought off. It was an embarrassing end to an embarrassing performance.

Casemiro famously texted his agent after watching United's shock 4-0 thrashing by Brentford in the second game of last season, telling him "I'll fix this". Hojlund might have been thinking the same as he watched his new side look toothless up front for the second game in a row.

The Dane, who is still recovering from a back injury, may already be under pressure due to his £74 million ($94m) price tag and he will now be expected to hit the ground running when he returns to full fitness, potentially in time for the trip to Arsenal on September 3.

But this is also a huge opportunity for him to get off to a strong start and ingratiate himself to United fans. He will need to be prolific from the off and he can take inspiration from how Erling Haaland hit the ground running in his first few games in the Premier League.

He is known to have a big personality and being the answer to United's poor start should not faze him. It has the potential to inspire him.

A pre-season tour is supposed to lay the foundations for the coming campaign; it can serve as a testing ground for any fresh ideas the manager has but above all it is there to get the players in shape.

However, looking at United's first two matches of the new Premier League term, the tour has had little positive impact. Just as against Wolves, Ten Hag's side looked haggard, as if they were coming towards the end of the season rather than just starting it.

United's tour was a roaring success commercially, with Ten Hag's side visiting Norway, Scotland, Ireland and the USA as well as having one game at Old Trafford. But it was also a drain on the players and staff.

The team played a whopping eight matches in 25 days and twice played on successive days, travelling from San Diego to Houston in 24 hours for the fixtures against Wrexham and Real Madrid, and then flying over to Dublin to face Athletic Club just after playing against Lens. Granted, the Wrexham match was for the Under-23s, but Ten Hag still attended. The team also played and trained in scorching conditions, with the temperature in Las Vegas for the match against Borussia Dortmund rising above 40 degrees Celsius.

The manager earned admiration for cutting the team's number of commercial days from three to two but the tour was still a gruelling venture and it seems to have had a negative impact on the players.

The Australian's unusual career path and commitment to playing entertaining football has got him off on a good footing with Spurs fans, but words will only get him so far and the 2-2 draw at Brentford was not exactly an ideal start.

However, he could not have asked for a better home debut. After weathering an early storm from their visitors, Tottenham turned up the volume in the second half and swept United aside, attacking down the wings with purpose.

As well as playing on the front foot, his side showed fight and mettle to hold on to their lead. A fine introduction to his home supporters.

This was another game that called into question United's men in the middle. Casemiro lacked the power, energy and galvanising influence that defined his first season at the club. Bruno Fernandes was typically solid, but he missed a golden chance to open the scoring.

Meanwhile, it still does not seem clear what Mason Mount was brought to the club for, especially for £60m ($76m). Is he supposed to bolster the midfield or add flair in attack? At the moment, he is doing neither, and for now it looks as if United would have been better off spending the money on a reliable defensive midfielder such as Sofyan Amrabat.

Ten Hag, who bizarrely fielded the same starting XI that performed so badly against Wolves, does not seem to trust Scott McTominay and Kobbie Mainoo, the one success story of the pre-season tour, is still injured.

Harry Kane scored on his full debut for Bayern Munich and although Tottenham will clearly miss their all-time top scorer, they showed they can still compete with the top teams without their former talisman.

Richarlison still has a lot of work to do to adapt to Tottenham's style of play and is no real substitute for Kane, but Spurs' overall play looked far better than for most of last season, when they cycled through three managers and finished eighth in the table.

James Maddison, who has inherited Kane's No.10, was again influential in midfield and Vicario made a couple of fine saves, especially when he turned a thumping header from Casemiro over his bar.

Tottenham may be facing an uncertain future without their homegrown idol, but it can still be a bright one.