In his pre game press conference, Erik Ten Hag warned his Manchester United players to step up and fight.
This follows Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Sevilla in a disappointing collapse. This prompted the United boss to question his players’ mentality. Ten Hag has insisted that Sunday represents a huge opportunity for his players to prove themselves to him.
“Sunday is a huge opportunity, semi-final of the FA Cup, a better event you can’t imagine, after that a lot of great games to go, we have to prove it and this group of players has to prove it.”
Ten Hag continued, “you have to prove it every game. That’s what we have to acknowledge and be aware of it.”
This seems to be a challenge laid out by Ten Hag, following yet another disappointing away result. It marked the ninth loss all season, with most being heavy deficits in which players heads undoubtedly dropped. This has prompted the Dutchman to question his sides mentality, suggesting there is a mentality issue within games.
“What they [the team] can do very well is bounce back in between games, what they can do less is bounce back during a game to a setback. That is what we have to improve.”
The poor performance has left question marks above a large portion of the United team’s future. With a reported list of 16 players in danger, Ten Hag was quizzed on whether certain players are playing for their Man United careers.
“I think we’re always playing for our future as professional players.”
On Harry Maguire
One of the main culprits of last nights loss was Harry Maguire, playing a major role in the first goal. He received David de Gea’s pass and immediately booted it after realising the pressure he was under.
This has prompted widespread critique of the United captain, however his manager has stuck by him. Ten Hag told press, Maguire plays a key role in his team and listed off some of the key qualities.
“He has an important role, he is the captain, he leads and he communicates with the manager, motivates the team, he’s the example in the training space.”
This will come as a surprise to many United fans’ who feel Maguire is unfit to lead the club. Maguire also doesn’t seem to command a lot of dressing room respect, given the quality of leaders who sit next to him.
However these words from ten Hag could be nothing more than an attempt to boost the Englishman’s confidence ahead of a busy few weeks. As it has been apparent in recent seasons, Maguire doesn’t respond best to criticism.
The second half of Ten Hag’s press conference is tomorrow at 10:30pm.
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