“That is not the topic”: Ten Hag responds to question about his job being on the line


Erik ten Hag says he’s not concerned about fans’ impatience with his Manchester United side

The manager was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Villa game, which took place immediately after last night’s draw with FC Porto at the Dragão stadium and was asked “do you believe there is the patience within the fan base and within the structure, and what do you have to do against Aston Villa?”

“I’m not thinking about these issues because that is not the topic,” he replied.

“We are in there together, the ownership, the leadership team, the staff. I appointed new staff, we bought again new young players and we have to integrate them.

“We just talk about Manuel Ugarte, so the six position was absolutely one of the topics we want to sign for this season, but he needs time to integrate.

“In top football you don’t get time, you have to perform immediately, but that’s not always realistic, he has to get used to our game model, he has to get used to his teammates, to get used to the intensity of the Premier League.

“So it needs time. We have more positions where we need time. I was very pleased with the return of Rasmus Hojlund. He had a good return but we didn’t, we couldn’t play him in the first two months of the season.

“Hopefully he’s now fit, he’ll keep improving in his fitness levels and he’ll have a consistent fit season that will help us.”

“And there are some more areas where we’ll improve definitely, then this young team will grow and improve and then we’ll see where we’re at at the end of the season.

“Mason Mount, so we had three players with issues going into this game [against Porto] – there was Harry Maguire, there was Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo. And Harry Maguire and Alejandro, they made the squad, and they were capable to play some minutes, but Kobbie Mainoo didn’t make it, it was too big a risk, we have to wait, we have to see if he can play on Sunday, if he’s fit enough to start or to be on the bench.”

He was then asked why we are not seeing his values of organisation, structure and discipline in this United team. Why can his players not implement what he has built his reputation on?

“Yellow cards, you know the yellow card is overturned for Bruno, they acknowledge there was a mistake on Sunday. So it was very unlucky. He gave everything to make a goal. I wouldn’t address this as indiscipline.

“On the other part, yeah, we have to improve, for sure, but also we can say we are very disciplined. For example, in the first 25 minutes, in our positioning, and how we created chances. In the right moment we sped up the game. So I would not only describe it as indiscipline, we definitely can improve, we have to improve if you want to make a success.

“We will work on this, definitely.”

The manager was then asked about Harry Maguire’s comments that there is a “mental issue” around defending and asked how he will give players the belief that is needed against Villa.

“What is the mental issue? That is a range, it’s a spectrum of topics and you have to address it right. This team has the belief they don’t give up. So in that range of mentality, they have a strong mentality.

“But in some other parts they have to step up, and if you want to win trophies then some areas we have to improve.”

The final question was about his impressions of Diogo Dalot playing at left back and why he has been selected to play there over Noussair Mazraoui.

“I think they can both play there, but for the patterns, I prefer this moment Diogo. Both of course are right full backs and that’s another area we have a personnel issue. Already for a long time we have personnel issue there. So definitely we’ll improve as a team if we get a consistent left footed, left full back. We are waiting for Luke Shaw, we are waiting for Tyrell Malacia to return in the squad so that will definitely help consistent performance levels.”

Feature image Octavio Passos via Getty Images

Play for free to win the new United kit! We’re awarding a new prize every PL matchweek, courtesy of Goat Kits! To play, just (1) Join this week’s brand new PL Challenge league here with our league code puu1tk and enter your team. (2) Follow The Peoples Person on X and answer the tie breaker question. Full instructions and rules here.
You can also visit Goat Kits at goatkitstore.com and use discount code TPP30 to get 30% off your first purchase!

The post Erik ten Hag says he’s not concerned about fans’ frustrations with Man United appeared first on Man United News And Transfer News | The Peoples Person.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *