Problem is, ten Hag is trying to play a possession-based game without possession-based players.
Whatever people say about the McTominay and Fred, they always give their all, which is more than can be said about others in the team. However, they excel or are certainly better, when they are not in possession of the ball. That's not exactly a bad thing, because you need that balance, however, in a style where keeping the ball is paramount to the way ten Hag wants to play, then the two probably shouldn't be lining up together.
If you look at City's midfield yesterday, which is the template ten Hag is looking to follow, with the 235, they had Rodri, Gundogan and De Bruyne, who are all fantastic ball players. They also had Phillips and Silva, who are also very good with the ball, especially the latter.
At the moment, we have Eriksen, Van de Beek and Bruno, with the latter having a tendency of being inconsistent.
Going forward, it will take ten Hag a bit of time to really implement the style he wants, but he will need his type of players to do so.