ERIK TEN HAG insists he has the backing of his players and says performances prove it.
While Manchester United sunk to defeat at Newcastle, the manager pointed to the victory at Everton and draw away to Galatasaray before that to back his belief.
So are the players really behind him?
Ten Hag said: “Oh yes, I am sure.
“You can see for instance the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, every time the team is there and have shown great character, great determination, resilience so we are together.
“You can see you can’t play such great football as we did recently without unity.
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“We had a week of two good performances and one bad performance so from there we carry on, the team is in a good direction.
“We played very good football and scored very good goals against Galatasaray and Everton.
“Against Newcastle, we didn’t play great, we knew that, we were not happy with that performance, but we stayed in the game and had two good opportunities to get a point.
“But we are not robots, if you play three games in six days, tough games and by the end the fatigue can be an issue.”
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The body language of some players at St James’ was also an issue, pointing to a sense of disunity.
There are also those not in the team who will be unhappy.
But Ten Hag, speaking ahead of Wednesday’s home clash with Chelsea, said it was normal.
He said: “Of course there are always in every team players who are not playing, who are not as happy.
“That is normal, you have to wait for the chance and that can come but there are no issues.”
Ten Hag says that he has an open dialogue with all his players and some have challenged him over how the team plays and selections.
He said: “Maybe one or two. If the players have a different opinion of course I will listen.
“I listen always to my players and I give them always opportunities to speak.
“But the majority want to play like this: proactive, dynamic, brave, that is what they want.
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“You can see the players are behind it because of the performances against Everton and Galatasaray, we are really improving.
“We are on a journey, a route, we know we are in transition but we are in the right direction, we construct a team, develop it, the team is progressing, young players coming in and you see the potential how they can contribute to a successful Manchester United team for the future.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
