Erik ten Hag insists he has “no problem” with Manchester United players, saying he always listens and “gives them the opportunity” to speak up about their concerns.
The United manager has come under criticism following his team’s poor performance in their 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Several reports from various media indicated that players within Ten Hag’s team were beginning to lose confidence in his coaching methods. As speculation continues, United have taken steps to ban several journalists from attending their pre-match press conference ahead of their next Premier League match against Chelsea. United Airlines said this action “is not about publishing articles we don’t like, but rather by contacting us first for an opportunity to comment, dispute, or provide context.” “He did that,” he said.
Ten Hag said: “They should come to us (the media) first and not bypass our backprint stories. That’s not right. We have another relationship. I think, they can do it, they should come to us in advance, we will have normal professional discussions and discussions about it.
“Of course, in every team there are always players who are not playing or playing less and who are not very happy. It is normal, but the situation calls for it and they have to wait for their chance. Surely it could come. But no, no problem.
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“I always listen to the players’ opinions and I always give them the opportunity to tell the players. If the players have a different opinion, of course I listen. But they can’t tell me. Or maybe one or two, but generally the majority want to play like this: aggressive, dynamic, brave, and that’s what they want. It’s about being.
“If you look at the performances against Everton and Galatasaray, you can see that the players are behind it. You can see that we are really improving. Do you see that goal? The players are behind it. If you didn’t accept, do you think you would be able to achieve the goal you scored against Everton? What do you think?
“We’re on a journey, we’re on a journey. We know we’re still in transition, but we’re moving in the right direction. How we build and develop the team and how the team progresses and progresses. We’ll see how young players come in and how they can potentially contribute to Manchester United’s great success in the future. ”
Meanwhile, United forward Marcus Rashford came under fire after his individual performance against Newcastle last Saturday.
The 26-year-old has struggled to form this season, scoring just two goals in 18 appearances across all competitions.
Ten Hag was asked about Rashford, but concluded that the majority of the team were suffering from United’s inconsistent form.
“Everyone is disappointed. If we get the result in Galatasaray, so will the performance and result in Newcastle,” he added. “But when you go to Newcastle, we’re not the only ones losing there. I think their home record says they’ve won every game except for Liverpool, where they were leading, but they’re down to 10 men and they’re down to 10 men. Then there was a reversal, where everyone was losing.
“But that doesn’t mean we wanted to win there and we gave it our all, but definitely our performance wasn’t good enough.”
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Rashford is realizing that, whether he likes it or not, home-grown players are held to higher standards.
(Photo: James Gill – Dane House/Getty Images)
