Manchester United ARE Erik ten Hag's team after over £400m was spent

Erik ten Hag bordered on the delusional when he claimed his Manchester United team had 'played very good' in all three meetings with Manchester City this year.

Perhaps in United's Old Trafford win back in January, but not in May's FA Cup final and definitely not in Sunday's embarrassing 3-0 reverse which again starkly highlighted the light years currently separating the two rivals.

Ten Hag was rightly called out for the comment by Gary Neville on Sky and United's manager really isn't fooling anybody.

United's dreadful start to the season - a fifth league defeat makes it the most from their opening 10 fixtures since 1986-87, when Ron Atkinson was sacked - is quickly eating up the credit Ten Hag banked in his debut campaign.

A third-placed finish in the Premier League and Carabao Cup success - ending a six-year wait for silverware - far exceeded first-season expectations.

But the early weeks of this season have seen a clear and pretty shocking regression.

Three consecutive wins over Brentford, Sheffield United and Copenhagen had disguised ongoing lacklustre performances and an opponent of City's quality was always going to expose weaknesses.

Ten Hag's issue is that United are increasingly his team with players he has brought in, often at considerable expense with over £400million spent in roughly a year-and-a-half.

When they perform so poorly, without any discernible style, and lose derby matches, the finger of blame will ultimately be pointed at Ten Hag regardless of the owners' unpopularity.

Here, Mail Sport take a closer look at Ten Hag's signings and assess whether they've actually performed well or not.

ANTONY

Signed from Ajax, transfer fee £85.3million (add-ons included)

Ten Hag pushed very hard for the signing of Antony, a player he knew well from Ajax, towards the end of his first transfer window.

He clearly felt United needed some more X-factor in wide attacking areas and the club paid considerably over the odds when Ajax dug in their heels.

But the Brazilian hasn't yet offered any kind of upgrade for such a huge sum, scoring eight goals and contributing just three assists in 53 outings.

Highlights such as his winner against Barcelona in last season's Europa League have been few and far between and he tends to infuriate rather than delight the fans.

His petulant swipe at City's Jeremy Doku on Sunday seemed to sum up his own exasperation at the situation and work is required to ensure he doesn't just become another very expensive United flop.

If he does, it's entirely on Ten Hag.

RASMUS HOJLUND

Atalanta, £72m

United's pressing need for a new centre forward over the summer was clear but they quickly ruled out a bid for Harry Kane, a proven Premier League goalscorer.

Instead they gambled on 20-year-old Dane Hojlund with £72m an extortionate sum to pay out for such an unproven player.

There then followed the revelation that Hojlund has an underlying back problem that will need to be carefully managed.

In fairness, he has shown promising glimpses since arriving at Old Trafford and has netted three times in the Champions League.

Unfortunately, Hojlund is inevitably going to be compared to Erling Haaland across town at City and on Sunday they looked worlds apart.

It now remains to be seen whether Hojlund's goals can lift United up to better things, or whether the general malaise will drag him down.

CASEMIRO

Real Madrid, £70m

Ten Hag wanted Frenkie de Jong for his midfield and had they secured him, maybe United would have a clearer identity by now.

Instead they signed Casemiro, who astonishingly was still keen to leave Real Madrid even after watching his new club capitulate 4-0 at Brentford.

De Jong was very much forgotten as Casemiro enjoyed a superb first season at Old Trafford, proving a leader on and off the pitch, well worth the initial £60m.

Regrettably, Casemiro has struggled this season and is, frankly, beginning to look like a 31-year-old footballer. Injury kept him out the derby but it's unlikely he would have made much difference.

United are rudderless right now and crying out for an experienced figure such as Casemiro to lead them out of the wilderness.

He still has plenty of credit in the bank from last season but the signs are alarming.

MASON MOUNT

Chelsea, £60m

Mount was introduced for Sofyan Amrabat at half-time in the derby, with Ten Hag obviously confident United were playing well enough to roll the dice in midfield.

That backfired and it really does remain unclear what Mount's role in the United side is after they went and paid Chelsea £60m for him.

The England man's talent is undeniable and he's a Champions League winner, while an injury stalled early progress, but where does he plug in to Ten Hag's team?

The jury will remain out on Mount for a while but it's hardly the blistering start to life at Old Trafford he would have hoped for.

LISANDRO MARTINEZ

Ajax, £56.7m

Another signing with Ten Hag's fingerprints all over it as United urgently sought to strengthen their often susceptible back line.

The manager knew Martinez well from Ajax and the Argentine proved to be just the warrior United needed as he enjoyed an excellent first season.

The metatarsal injury he suffered in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla was a hammer blow and an aggravation of the same issue means he's currently out.

On Sunday's evidence, Ten Hag could do with him back to full fitness as quickly as possible to give his team a bit of backbone. But it could be into the New Year before we see him.

ANDRE ONANA

Inter Milan, £47m

Very much Ten Hag's signing, with the decision to dispense with long-serving keeper David de Gea for someone better on the ball made well before the summer.

Onana's arrival only fuelled the theory Ten Hag only likes working with certain players but it was a clear pointer as to the style of football he wants to introduce.

He's had a baptism of fire, coming in for heavy criticism for some sloppy mistakes in the losses to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.

On Sunday, Onana made a series of crucial saves but ultimately saw his defence overpowered.

He requires time to settle and at least fronts up to the criticism. But if he continues to be fallible, it's another one on Ten Hag.

TYRELL MALACIA

Feyenoord, £14.7m

The left-back must have impressed Ten Hag when playing for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie as he moved quickly to sign him.

Malacia started 14 Premier League and eight Europa League games last season but wasn't able to dislodge Luke Shaw as the first-choice.

Now they're both injured, which is hardly helping the situation.

ALTAY BAYINDIR

Fenerbahce, £4.3m

Signed cheaply as back-up to Onana. Has yet to play and given Ten Hag's propensity to always play his strongest available team, he may not get too many opportunities.

If he is to feature, you'd imagine this Wednesday's Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle could be a possible debut.

CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN

Free agent, free

Ten Hag has regularly turned to Eriksen to supply a little bit of creativity in midfield and the Dane more often than not obliges with his passing.

Has proved to be a very good signing but he can't do everything himself.

JONNY EVANS

Free agent, free

Ten Hag said he selected 35-year-old Evans over Raphael Varane for the derby because of 'tactics'.

But Evans was always likely to struggle against Haaland and Co, and so it proved.

The veteran defender has performed well enough since his shock return to Old Trafford but you can't help but feel it was a sign of desperation.

SERGIO REGUILON

Tottenham Hotspur, loan

An emergency loan signing at left-back following the injuries to Shaw and Malacia, Reguilon too suffered time out which led to Amrabat filling in.

Victor Lindelof was favoured ahead of him on Sunday after he lasted an hour against Copenhagen in midweek.

It remains to be seen whether he'll make a good impression, or even play very much.

SOFYAN AMBRABAT

Fiorentina, loan

It was pretty alarming that, in spite of all the millions spent, United still lacked midfield bite at the beginning of the season.

Hence the loan of Moroccan Amrabat to toughen things up. Has spent some of his loan playing in the unfamiliar role of left-back and was taken off half-way through the derby.

Could well be another wrong move in the market by Ten Hag.

WOUT WEGHORST

Burnley, loan

Likeable but ultimately not especially good centre forward who played considerably more than he expected after United extracted him from Besiktas in a fluster back in January.

Weghorst scored twice in 31 outings yet threatened cult hero status with his expressions of delight at somehow ending up leading United's frontline.

MARCEL SABITZER

Bayern Munich, loan

Deadline day loan signing back in January after Eriksen, Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek suffered injuries.

Scored a couple of lovely goals against Sevilla at Old Trafford but never did quite enough to persuade United to try and sign him permanently.