Manchester United Treble winner Jaap Stam believes Erik ten Hag needs backing and patience as the club's new manager oversees a squad rebuild.
This will be a summer of change after a chastening season at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils all but certain to miss out on Champions League qualification as numerous players prepare to head for the exit.
“At the moment they're struggling," the former Holland international told the PA news agency. “You see that it's not going to go how everybody wants them to go, to play.
“You feel that – and that's me being in Holland the majority of the time – everybody around the world is talking about United, how they're playing and what they're doing and that they want to have success.
“Erik has been doing well in Holland and everybody knows that as well. That's why he got the job at United of course.
“We also need to understand that in the league in Holland the quality of the majority of teams is a lot less than how Ajax is but still you need to produce, so that's still a very good thing that he's done.
“Now he's been given the chance to try to do the same at United and hopefully he can do.
“But he understands, and he knows as well, that the Premier League is totally different – the people, the press, the expectations, the pressure – to how it was in Holland.
“For him that's going to be a learning curve but it's very important that the club and the owners are backing him up in terms of personnel.
“United have got good players. Yeah, some of them might need to go but they need to bring in several other players as well, so they can get unity within that squad, play in a certain way.
“The philosophy in how he wants to play is of course very important. That's why they chose Erik. Hopefully he can show that."
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