Erik ten Hag warned Manchester United may suffer from a slow start to the season as the Red Devils attempt to get up to speed for the new campaign.
United face fierce rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, having overcome the same opponents at the same venue in the FA Cup final back in May.
That cup victory somewhat eased the mounting pressure on under-fire Ten Hag, whose Red Devils finished eighth in the Premier League last season, their worst-ever position in the competition.
Ten Hag is expecting another difficult start against City, and then when Fulham visit Old Trafford for their league opener, with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martinez missing United's pre-season tour of the United States due to international commitments.
"I can see this because we didn't have time together," the United manager said ahead of the season opener at Wembley.
"We have to work on our game model to find the patterns. It was a break, they all played Euros, Copa America so they were in different teams, with different game models and different patterns.
"Now we have to bring this together. It is complicated. I am not the only one who has to deal with this problem but there are also teams with less international players, they can make a proper preseason so they are probably ahead of us.
"We have to deal with this in the coming weeks without dropping points."
Ten Hag will be without new defensive signing Leny Yoro and Rasmus Hojlund for the start of the season due to injuries.
Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are all doubtful to face Pep Guardiola's side, leaving Martinez, Jonny Evans and Diogo Dalot as United's only fit senior defenders.
Yet the Dutchman remains confident of overthrowing United's dominant neighbours once more.
"We know already we can beat City and that is not dependent on the result on Saturday that will not change that belief," he added.
"The FA Cup was a higher occasion than the game on Saturday. Nevertheless, we want to win but we showed on occasions we can beat City.
"We have that belief but we don't want to take a risk with players and lose them for long periods because that is what we have to take from last season because when you are getting in a pattern when we are missing many players with injuries from the same team unit that affects the results."
"We want to get results and for that players have to be available."
Manchester City 1-1 Manchester United (7-6 pens): Akanji's spot-kick wins Community Shield
Manchester City came from behind to draw 1-1 with Manchester United before winning 7-6 on penalties in the Community Shield on Saturday.
Alejandro Garnacho had broken the deadlock in the 82nd minute before Bernardo Silva headed in an equaliser just seven minutes later, setting up the shoot-out in which Manuel Akanji's penalty was the difference.
After a slow start, it looked like City were kicking into gear when Oscar Bobb latched onto a loose back pass from Lisandro Martinez, but Nico O'Reilly could only hit the far post with his curling strike.
Bruno Fernandes thought he had given United the lead in the 54th minute, only to be denied by the offside flag after curling a wonderful shot over Ederson and into the far corner, before Marcus Rashford struck the post after a quick counterattack.
Just as he did in the FA Cup final in May, Garnacho broke the deadlock at Wembley, cutting inside from the right before fizzing a low shot out of Ederson's reach and into the bottom-right corner.
Silva soon marked his 30th birthday with an equaliser though, outmuscling Facundo Pellistri at the far post to nod Bobb's floated cross past Andre Onana.
Onana saved City's first penalty, denying Silva, but the contest went to sudden death after Ederson kept out Jadon Sancho's effort.
When Jonny Evans sent his spot-kick flying over the bar, Akanji kept his cool to win it for the Premier League champions, rifling his kick into the roof of the net.
Data Debrief: Citizens end their wait
It is not often City go without winning a certain trophy for long spells, but it took them five years to get their hands back on the Community Shield.
They had to come from behind to do it, and only against Newcastle United and Watford (both five) has Silva scored more goals against a single side for City than he has against United (four).
Meanwhile, Garnacho (20 years, 40 days) is the youngest player to score in the Community Shield since Cesc Fabregas for Arsenal against Chelsea in 2005 (18y 95d).
However, his goal was not enough to prevent United from becoming Community Shield runners-up for a 10th time, more than any other club.
Rangers 2-1 Motherwell: Cerny scores winner as Gers up and running at Hampden
Vaclav Cerny struck the winner as Rangers ground out a 2-1 win over Motherwell at Hampden Park on Saturday to pick up their first victory of the Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Gers, held 0-0 by Hearts in their opening match of the season last week, survived an early scare when Lennon Miller fired wide from a glorious position in the opening minutes.
However, after Scott Wright had an effort stopped on the line, Cyriel Dessers - who rescued a late European draw against Dynamo Kyiv in midweek - found the net from close range with 13 minutes on the clock.
Motherwell responded instantly as John Souttar failed to cut out a deep delivery and Robin Propper turned into his own net, but fellow new signing Cerny cut inside and curled in a delightful goal seven minutes later.
Aston Oxborough made some smart stops to frustrate Rangers, while Jack Butland was equal to a Zach Robinson effort in the second half as the hosts - playing at Hampden due to ongoing renovation work at Ibrox - saw out a rather flat win.
Data Debrief: 'Home' comforts for Rangers at Hampden
Rangers have now won their opening home league game in each of the past seven seasons by an aggregate score of 22-2, albeit this match was at Hampden rather than Ibrox.
Last week's draw with Hearts was underwhelming, but the Light Blues avoided going back-to-back league games without a win to begin a season for the first time since 1989-90 with this victory.
Solanke targets trophies after sealing £65m Spurs move
Dominic Solanke is desperate to help Tottenham end their trophy drought after joining from Bournemouth in a blockbuster £65million move.
Solanke enjoyed the best season of his career in 2023-24, scoring 19 Premier League goals as the Cherries finished 12th in their first campaign under Andoni Iraola.
Only Erling Haaland (27), Cole Palmer (22) and Alexander Isak (21) outscored Solanke, who had previously netted just 10 times in the top flight for Liverpool and the Cherries.
Having sealed his move to North London, Solanke has set his sights on helping Spurs win their first major trophy since 2008, when they captured the EFL Cup under Juande Ramos.
"I feel delighted. Obviously it's a magnificent club, a huge club with ambitions that match mine, so I'm delighted to start, to meet all the boys and I can't wait to get started," he told the club's website.
"It's a huge club with great ambitions that I want to be part of, with a great manager, great players and I feel like it definitely suits my style of play so I can't wait to get started and do my stuff on the pitch.
"I work hard for the team, score goals, I leave it all out there and I love winning so hopefully we can win a few things together. That's what I'm going to bring, that fighting spirit.
"I've had quite a journey in football, everyone's journey is different, but I wouldn't change it as I've had a lot of ups and downs and I think that's made me who I am today on and off the pitch.
"I'm at that point in my career where it's all starting to come together and I think that was the start of last season."
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