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Man United boss Ten Hag comes out fighting with clear message ahead of Porto clash

© Imago
Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag remains confident that he will be given time to turn things around at Old Trafford.

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has insisted that he is "not anxious" about his future and is certain that he will "make a success from the season" despite a difficult start to 2024-25.

The Red Devils have only been victorious in three of their opening nine matches of the 2024-25 campaign, and they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.

Man United are currently 13th in the Premier League table, while they were unconvincing in a 1-1 draw with FC Twente in their Europa League opener last week.

The 20-time English champions are currently preparing for Thursday's European clash with Porto and will then take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

There have been suggestions that Ten Hag has two games to save his job at Old Trafford, with the Dutchman potentially being sacked ahead of the October international break if the next two matches do not go well, but the head coach has sent out a defiant message ahead of the team's return to action.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on September 29, 2024© Imago

Ten Hag does not fear the sack at Man United

"We are going to make a success from the season," Ten Hag told Sky Sports News. "Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about. We can sort [the problems] out, this team can sort this out.

"I'm not thinking about it (losing his job), I'm not anxious. We created a togetherness in the summer with the ownership and the leadership.

"We made this agreement, and we were all behind it. We know the strategy [is to bring in] young players in a transition period. They also know in May in all my last six seasons there were always trophies and that is what we are aiming for.

"If you lose your faith, you lose everything. We have to keep going and stick to the plan. "For a long period, we are in transition at Manchester United. From the moment I came in, we knew we had to change. We had to replace some older players.

"Our choice was to bring young players in and that takes time to get the messages on board, to get a game model on board and to introduce a new culture. That takes time.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on September 17, 2024© Imago

Ten Hag insists Man United players "want to fight for each other"

"In the meantime, you have to win and I think we have proven in the last two years that we win. I've proven in my career that always I will win. The last six years I have eight trophies.

"When the players have a bad performance then I haven't done my job great because they didn't play as I expected them to do. We are there together and we have to fight together to get out of this.

"We have seen in this group there is a good spirit. Even after all the setbacks [in the Spurs defeat] they kept going. You see that spirit in this team and you see this is a team they want to fight for each other.

"Also you can see the fans, they are disappointed, but they kept with us and they kept supporting us from the first moment till the last moment. We are in it together."

Ten Hag allegedly retains the support of senior players in the dressing room at Man United despite the team's disappointing form, but the next two games are likely to be decisive for the 54-year-old.

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Written by
Matt Law

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag on September 29, 2024
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