Erik ten Hag has urged Manchester United fans to stick with his players, claiming they are heading in the ‘right direction’ despite their poor start to the new season.
Ten Hag has found himself under fire at Old Trafford after a slow start to the season which sees his side currently in eighth place and six points off the top four.
United suffered disappointing back-to-back 3-0 defeats against Manchester City and Newcastle United – in the Premier League and Carabao Cup respectively – that ramped up the pressure on the Dutchman.
His side responded at the weekend, though. Bruno Fernandes’ late winner earned them a much-needed 1-0 win away against Fulham.
And now the 53-year-old has sent a message to fans. He picked up an award at the Football Writers’ Association awards night for his performances last season.
Ten hag has urged fans to trust the process:
I’m sure we are [heading] in the right direction and I’m happy to be here and to get this reward,’ Ten Hag has said in his acceptance speech to the northern FWA.
‘We are in the project and when you are in a project, you know, ups and downs and this moment we are in a down, but I know and this, football is like life.
It’s not only going always the way up, and in the bad moments it’s about how you stick together and how you continue the project.’
Despite their stuttering start to this campaign, United enjoyed a fruitful first year under the former Ajax boss.
United picked up their first trophy since 2017 with a 2-0 win over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final and also reached the FA Cup final where they fell to a 2-1 defeat against City.
However, Ten Hag stresses that such successes last season are not enough. Moreover, he said his team are targeting more silverware in the future.
‘What we achieved last year with the Carabao Cup, it was small, and we achieved an FA Cup final, which still hurts, but it’s not enough at Manchester United,’ he added.
‘We have higher targets and we have to go and get there.’
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