The good news for Manchester United is that two of their final five Premier League games are against lower-ranked teams, West Ham or Bournemouth, at home or on the road.
The only league loss for Erik ten Hag's team at Old Trafford this year came against Brighton on the first day of the season. The Stretford End will get turrets as it turns back into a fortress.
However, United has not been very impressive while traveling. Six of their seven victories have come over teams in the lower half of the Premier League, despite the fact that they have the fifth-best away record this season.
United usually give in when they run into someone decent on their own turf. From 24 opponents outside the top nine this season, they have only grabbed one point.
The only team in the top half they have defeated was Fulham, who are now in 10th place.
99th-minute Following Luke Shaw's handball, Alexis Mac Allister's penalty became the most recent to defeat them.
Since then, Liverpool has taken advantage of this, and their 1-0 victory against Brentford has reduced the gap between them and the Red Devils in the fight for the top four to just one point. United still has two games in hand, the first of which is against West Ham.
United has suffered losses, some more painful than others. They were humiliated by losing to Liverpool 7-0, and their 6 goals against Manchester City will be talked about for centuries in Merseyside.
Ten Hag's lineup saw considerable changes after the 4-0 defeat at Brentford in August, and United has also lost 3-1 to Aston Villa, 3-2 against Arsenal, and 2-0 to Newcastle.
Because they threw away a two-goal lead, the lone point they have earned against the top nine, a 2-2 draw at Tottenham, also felt like a loss.
Ten Hag responded, "It's definitely true," when questioned about his team's dismal road performance. However, it has to do with personality and character, therefore this is where we must take a stand and address the issue.
Although it's widely accepted that Ten Hag's first season has resulted in many changes, this still represents a weakness that, if not fixed, will prevent United from competing for the top honors.
What specifically has gone wrong in these games, and how can Ten Hag address it for the following year?
residual inferiority complex
All football supporters will argue that this holds true for their team, but you can usually tell pretty early on in a game whether United has shown up or not.
Early errors in possession or defensive lapses, particularly when under duress, usually indicate the type of performance you can expect.
Ten Hag's merely lack the requisite confidence to prevail in too many important away games, and their spirit wanes after the first defeat.
After the Newcastle loss, Gary Neville said, "There is more evidence that they are not good enough in these types of matches. When you really have to turn up and show that spirit, that fight, that courage to play, and have the quality to play."
"They simply don't show up,"
It might be a hangover from the years of decline that came before for the players that Ten Hag took over last summer, as well as a lack of faith in United's ability to compete with better teams like City and Liverpool.
Last season, when United lurched from one catastrophe to the another under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and caretaker Ralf Rangnick, that reached its lowest.
If United is to contend for the championship, Ten Hag must remove some sort of psychological kink, such as an inferiority mindset or fear component.
The newcomers from last summer shouldn't have as much of an impact because Ten Hag brought in players who have won before, such Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, and Antony, who won championships alongside him at Ajax.
However, there is still a sense of tacit resignation when United shows up at Anfield or the Etihad that the best they can hope for is damage control. It has been the same for a while.
United have found themselves very much in contention in some games but heads have dropped and shoulders have slumped after suffering the first blow. The 7-0 loss at Anfield was a prime example. Ten Hag can point to United's home record - they have defeated City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Spurs this season - to convince those doubters in his squad they no longer have anything to fear in these big games.
However, they were undone by a fantastic through ball from Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo's strike just before halftime, which was clearly a poor time to surrender, and they subsequently let more goals in the 47th and 50th minutes.
Instead of refocusing after the break, United's defensive play was erratic and they lost the game fast.
On-pitch leaders like Bruno Fernandes should step up in these situations, but instead he moped and sulked, for which he was rightfully criticized.
Ten minutes into the 4-0 defeat at Brentford, they gave up when David de Gea mishandled Josh Dasilva's attempt. It ought not to have been a problem as there were 80 minutes to reply.
Instead, De Gea blundered again with a terrible pass out, and by the 35th minute, United was humiliatingly down 4-0.
In just 11 minutes at Villa in November, they were down by two goals. Once more, it took a while to recover, but United cut the deficit in half just before halftime.
They often have the time to respond and the ability to do so, but conceding twice in the space of four minutes in the second half killed them off.
lost opportunities
At Brighton, United's desperate need for an elite No. 9 like Harry Kane was once again on display.
Only five of their 16 efforts found the target. Antony wasted a shot in the second minute, and Anthony Martial fired directly at goalie Jason Steele, who also denied Marcus Rashford.
Although Rashford had a fantastic season, it is almost unnecessary to reiterate that United needs to sign Kane or another prolific player like him this summer.
This season, they have scored 21 goals while traveling, while their xG is often around 23. They have generated about 167 opportunities, but they only convert on 12% of them.
United's season will be completely changed with the addition of another outstanding goal scorer who can guarantee them 25 goals. In crucial games, adding a few of those goals could mean the difference between earning one point or three instead of none.
There ought to be an abundance of service. Christian Eriksen and Casemiro can choose passes, Fernandes has been superb creatively this season despite his occasional petulance, Antony and Jadon Sancho should continue to improve their service from wide areas.
Ten Hag might only have £100 million available to spend this summer, which would keep United under Financial Fair Play guidelines.
Thus, player sales to raise money are necessary, but by August, a new center forward must be hired. Given that Daniel Levy won't allow Kane to leave Spurs on the cheap, wasting the entire money may be necessary if Kane leaves.
Eliminating the stupid mistakes Shaw's handball at the Amex was just the latest in a string of individual lapses in judgement or concentration that have hindered United on their travels; the fact he didn't even contest the handball verdict was an admission of guilt with Shaw fully aware you can't raise your arms in that manner in the box.
De Gea still doesn't seem completely at ease when playing out from the back, and in some games, he has just taken the long way around to get out of trouble. This is a smart move.
Defenders and midfielders have frequently mishandled passes, which is to be expected when they are of a high caliber.
These can sometimes be avoided by choosing the obvious course of action or passing rather than attempting a complex maneuver.
The United players should be able to exert more control over every game as they grow accustomed to Ten Hag's expectations.
It will become easier to understand teammate movements and intentions after another season with the same lineup as Ten Hag is frequently reluctant to make too many changes.
United are getting there slowly but their inability to turn up in big away games is something Ten Hag must get to the root cause of.
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