Ten Hag: I Am Satisfied with Manchester United’s Level
Despite the ongoing poor results for Manchester United, the latest being a goalless draw with host Aston Villa, manager Erik Ten Hag expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance, praising their character and spirit.
In a statement to Sky Sports after the match held at Villa Park on Sunday during the seventh round of the Premier League, Ten Hag said, “I think this is the fourth match in which we kept a clean sheet this season.”
The Dutch coach added, “As you can see, we had a very good organization and cohesion. There was good character and spirit in the team; we showed flexibility and cohesion.”
Ten Hag continued, “We were on the verge of not conceding any chances against us. When you defend this way and have some luck, in the end, they had a clear chance, but that was almost the only one in my opinion.”
The United coach emphasized, “We have been good during the matches we have played this season, but today we didn’t create many chances, but we also played against a great team.”
In response to a question about whether Marcus Rashford was one foul away from a second yellow card and a red card in the match, Ten Hag replied, “Yes, that was one of the reasons for substituting him. If he had made another foul, he would likely have been sent off. We cannot take that risk again.”
Regarding Harry Maguire’s injury, Ten Hag said, “He wasn’t well after the first half, so I had to substitute him.”
When asked about his relationship with the club’s officials in light of the disappointing results this season, Ten Hag stated, “We always talk, almost every week. We are all in the same boat, and we know what we need to do. It’s a long-term process.”
Ten Hag concluded his remarks by saying, “We have gone through two very difficult away matches (against Portuguese Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League). We have shown the faith and confidence we have during them.”
Manchester United has failed to secure any wins in its last five matches across all competitions, drawing with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, while also drawing with Dutch side Twente and Porto in the Europa League.
It is noteworthy that Manchester United is currently in 14th place in the Premier League standings with 8 points from its first seven matches this season.
