Erik ten Hag helps Manchester United with one issue, but then another arises.

United and Ten Hag are already playing catch-up after a lackluster start to the season, collecting just six points from their first two games. The Premier League season has had a fairly slow start by today’s standards.

Although it hasn’t been necessary for United or their opponents to lace up their boots for a midweek game (yet), that is about to change for one very good reason. In his first year as manager, Ten Hag guided United back into the Champions League, and the team’s European schedule has since been finalized. At the Allianz Arena, they will likely have the toughest matchup against England captain Harry Kane and his teammates from Bayern Munich.

The 30-year-old former Tottenham talisman would be polishing up his shooting boots to gun down Bayern with United instead of the other way around if things had worked out a bit differently. To deal with Daniel Levy, however, was always expected to be a difficult task.

It’s not a given that FC Copenhagen or Galatasaray will advance to the knockout rounds, but both teams are prepared to shock the two European heavyweights. To give themselves a chance, United will need to improve on their early-season performance levels.

But things aren’t entirely bleak. Andre Onana, Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund, and Sofyan Amrabat (on loan), among others, were acquired through outstanding market maneuvering, but Ten Hag’s team still needs time for those arrivals to settle in and leave their imprint on an ever-evolving and developing United group.

No matter how the first four games went in terms of outcomes, Ten Hag and his coaching staff knew that the upcoming international break would be challenging. They may come back with a doubleheader of the highest caliber even with eight, nine, or ten points.

Four days before Bayern and United square off in Germany, United hosts raging Brighton at Old Trafford, and the tone of this season may well be set in those two games. Of course, there is still a very long way to go, but two victories—or at the very least, strong performances—might boost the mood and ambition.

It will be interesting to see how Ten Hag resolves that particular problem as a result of that startling discussion with Jadon Sancho, which has thrown up an unwelcome subplot. Under a like shadow, he fired a certain Cristiano Ronaldo the previous year. Before the top flight returns, Ten Hag has a lot to arrange both on and off the playing field.