ERIK TEN HAG has no regrets over missing out on Harry Kane as he bid to stop the England talisman tomorrow.
The Manchester United manager made Kane his No 1 transfer target at the start of the summer.
But the striker, 30, ended up leaving Tottenham for Champions League opponents Bayern Munich in a £104million deal.
United brought in rookie Rasmus Hojland, 20, for an initial £64m but they have slumped to THREE defeats in their opening five Prem games.
Asked if he had any regrets at not landing Kane, Ten Hag said: “No. We are happy with Rasmus.
“For the first game, he was injured. He played against Arsenal, he’s had a start, now we have to integrate him in the team.
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“You can see he’s a big talent.”
United have scored just six goals in five Prem games this season, while Kane has netted four times in four Bundesliga matches.
Now that Hojlund has returned from a back injury, Ten Hag is confident the Dane will form a great partnership with Marcus Rashford, who hit career-best 30 goals last season.
He said: “We have to work on how the two can benefit from each other.
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“But they have to know each other and that process has just started but at the same time, we need results. It has to go hand in hand.
“We learn from every training session and every game and we reflect.
“We have seen Rasmus and Rashy together, they are talking about how they can benefit from each other.
“You can see that discussion and the interaction is going on, on the pitch, you can see that connection is there and they will get the routines there.”
The pair combined to find the net and what they thought was an equaliser on Saturday against Brighton.
But the ball had run out of play before Rashford crossed it and United went on to lose 3-1.
It has put the pressure on as they return to Champions League action tomorrow after last season’s third placed finish.
Ten Hag said: “We are in a process and what you see is in parts of games we play very good but in parts of games we play below our levels.
“What we have to demand is to be consistent, we have to step up in certain levels, for 90-plus minutes.”
We are happy with Rasmus.
Ten Hag on Hojlund
United arrived in Munich without 12 players available, nine of whom are injured.
Raphael Varane, Mason Mount and Harry Maguire trained today but did not travel to Germany.
Ten Hag said: “One thing is true – from the start last season I almost never started with the best starting XI.
“It was always something like an injury. But you have to deal with it and we always get the results, apart from the period we are in now.
“That is football and I have the experience in the past, I have managed it in the past.
“Of course, it’s a concern but that’s why we constructed the squad with depth – so we can deal with it. The squad can deal with it.”
United face a Bayern team at the Allianz Arena who are unbeaten in their last 27 group games at home – a record going back ten years.
But the last team to avoid defeat here in the group stage was managed by Ten Hag when Ajax drew in 2018.
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He added: “They have very attractive players, very skilful, you can’t be unfocused for one second, one split second.
“But we are looking forward because we like the challenge and we trust ourselves.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
