MANCHESTER UNITED
Erik ten Hag backs under fire Man Utd players
Next up for United is Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, when they will be without midfielder Casemiro.
Erik ten Hag is feeling the pressure at Manchester United, that pressure previously felt by David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer’s former team-mate and current pundit Gary Neville said on Sunday that the club has become a graveyard for players and managers, with the club struggling in more than one department.
Next up for United is Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, where they will be aiming to bounce back after the recent defeats.
Ten Hag talks
Ten Hag has spoken ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage, saying that the plan was to put things right after back-to-back 3-0 home defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle United.
“They’re positive and they want to put this right. We know the standards here and we have to make the standards every day,” Ten Hag said on Friday.
“We had two big setbacks. But this squad is strong, the staff is strong and this manager is strong to put this right.”
Backing United players
“I’m convinced about the players in the dressing room,” Ten Hag continued. “We have seen last year they can do a lot better.
“But that is up to me to let them play better and I take the responsibility for that and I will put every effort in to get this done. When players are available and return from injuries we will play better, definitely.”
Ten Hag’s philosophy
Ten Hag was asked about comments following the Manchester derby defeat in which he appeared to suggest his United team could not play in the same passing style of his former Ajax team.
“I thought the explanation (of my comments) from my point of view was totally wrong,” said Ten Hag.
“I came here with my philosophy based on possession but also to combine it with the DNA of Manchester United and combine it with the players, the competencies and the characters of the players. Last season I think we played very good football.
“This season the philosophy is no different. No, I don’t want to play long balls. Yes, I want to play from the back as we did. I didn’t buy André Onana to go for long balls.
“We want to press and we want to press from different blocks and then go direct because we have the players like Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford and Anthony and Bruno Fernandes.”