Erik ten Hag has had his say on a lacklustre start to the season for Manchester United and statistically, their worst for 61 years.
Nine defeats in their opening 18 games has seen the Old Trafford faithful go from optimisitc on the back of last season’s triumphs, to somewhat hopeless.
While United certainly have the quality to see out results, there’s no doubt that the season-long, debilitating injury crisis has been a mitigating factor in the side’s losses. Almost every outfield player has missed a game through illness or fitness concerns, including key starters such as Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Rasmus Hojlund – the latter of which is sidelined until the end of November.
As players gradually return to the fold, fans will be hoping that United can then oversee a consistent run of form. Ten Hag will also be able to field a starting 11 that he deems qualified enough to get the job done week in, week out.
Ten Hag assesses United’s start to season
Reflecting on the past three months, which has kickstarted the second year of his tenure, Ten Hag told beIN Sports (via ManUtd.com): “We are, say, one third [through the season]. It was a tough start, as we’ve seen, but I think we are catching up. And from the last five games we’ve won four. So we are in a good mood and I think we are [heading] in the right direction.
“So, before we go into that intense program in December, I think we’re building and we’re building confidence. We’re building strong belief, and we’re building also some routines.
“And now we hope we can more or less stay with the same line-up or with 12 to 14 players, while constructing the line-up, because I think so far that was our difficulty. Every time we had to change and we don’t develop routines. Every time we had to change.”
