Erik ten Hag explains how Manchester United could have won 14 more games

Against Manchester City, Erik ten Hag managed his 100th game in charge of Manchester United, with the Dutchman claiming injuries have stopped them from winning more.

Erik ten Hag has won 61 of his first 100 fixtures in charge, which can only be bettered by Jose Mourinho as Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Ten Hag has suffered a monumental injury crisis so far during his second season in charge of the club, with almost every single player in his first-team squad being unavailable due to either injury or outside problems over the course of the campaign.

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While many have pondered how the injuries have impacted the team’s position in the table, Ten Hag reckons that injuries have cost his side multiple good performances.

“No team can deal with so many injuries, I think we played to maximum levels if you take in respect the availability of the players,” he told reporters on Friday afternoon.

“We missed so many key players over the part of the season, the performances we have seen when the players are available in January and February the performances are very good. When the players were not even fit they could do even better.”

He continued, explaining that the fact that the team have managed to get to where they are despite the crisis, and that if all his players had been available, he would have been able to add an extra 14 wins to his current total of 61.

“It tells us that we are in the right direction. So imagine we had many more players available and not setbacks and injuries, we could easily have 75 wins, and that tells the bright future of this team.

“When you compare it with other managers, other teams, or previous managers in this big club you can see there is a bright future. It is a good balance in ages in this squad.

“Young players, middle-aged players, imagine when they are available, could easily have won from 100 games 75. It is a big difference with the stats you mentioned.”

Next, United will welcome Everton to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon as the club look to get back to winning ways in the next few weeks.