Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes he still has the backing of the club’s board after they suffered a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, Afrosport reports.
It was the Red Devils’ third league defeat of the season and the second time they lost 3-0 at home after doing so against fierce rivals Liverpool.
It was also the 23rd league game United lost at home by three goals or more since Alex Ferguson retired, one more than legendary Scot suffered in his 27 years in charge.
The poor start to the season has led to calls for Ten Hag to be sacked but the United hierarchy are seemingly behind the Dutchman after making their intention clear after the Liverpool boss.
Ten Hag believes they are all on the same page and acknowledges that time will be needed to turn things around.
“No, I’m not thinking about this. I think we all made, in togetherness, this decision to stay together, as an ownership, as a leadership group, in the summer,” he said per the club website.
“And also, we made the decision from a clear review, what we have to improve as an organisation and how also we want to construct a squad. And they are all decision-making in togetherness, but also we knew it would take some time because of how the window went, some players late in, like Ugarte, we have to integrate him now.
“Also, we had to make some improvement in organisation, we still have to deal with some injuries, also from impact players, and I think we will get better there. We need some time. We are all on one page, one boat, together, the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and players group as well. I don’t have that concern.”
23 – Manchester United have now lost more Premier League matches by 3+ goals since Alex Ferguson left the club (23 in 424 games) than they did in 1,035 league games under the Scot (22). Demise. pic.twitter.com/DNUWCZoMV0
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 29, 2024
Ten Hag also called on his team to move on the result and believes things will turn around positively.
“It is always a new day. I told them, just in the dressing room, to come on. Tomorrow is a new day. We definitely have to learn, we have to do things better. We have to be better in the pressing and also better on the ball,” he added.
“There were situations where we could have played better, found the spare man and kept the ball and we didn’t, which was so disappointing. I just focus on Porto. We close this game down, deal with it and then we move on. We will turn this around. Tomorrow, we will start all over again. The season is still very young, with many games to play.”
The result dropped United down to 12th on the table, eight points behind leaders Liverpool and four points away from the relegation zone.
