Erik ten Hag hits back brilliantly at Manchester United job speculation with “stories and fairytales” quip

Ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League tie against Brentford, Erik ten Hag has hit back at speculation surrounding his job over the international break.

Manchester United are set to resume their Premier League campaign after the international break, with Erik ten Hag closely reviewing his squad ahead of a pivotal match against Brentford.

The first two months of the 2024/25 season have been disappointing, leaving United 14th in the league and without a win in their opening two Europa League matches.

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The mounting pressure on Ten Hag led to widespread speculation that his departure was imminent, with many expecting the club to make an official statement last week.

However, the draw against Aston Villa seems to have delayed such decisions, giving Ten Hag more time to turn things around. He will spend the next few days assessing his options before finalizing his starting eleven for the Brentford clash.

Ahead of the tie, Ten Hag held his usual pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon at the club’s Carrington training complex, answering journalists’ questions.

Ten Hag hits back

The Dutch manager was asked if he had received assurances from the club about his position, to which he replied brilliantly, explaining that the noise simply came from a few journalists who had been lying during the international break.

“No,” Ten Hag retorted. “The noise is only coming from the media, from you guys. From some of you, not all of you, but some of you. Bringing up stories, creating stories, creating fairy tales, making noise, bringing lies.

“Because I know we are all on one page in this club. I told this before the break. I told several journalists, they didn’t believe me. I see the reports, but internal, in the club, it’s quiet.

“Of course, we are discussing the position where we are, that we are unhappy in the position where we are, and we have to turn the corner, what has to happen with a strategy to turn this corner.

“But ultimately, we are quiet, we are composed, we stay where we are, we stick to the plan, and we are very convinced we will make it a success.”

Mountains are there to be climbed

Ten Hag was also asked if he feels the club can still succeed this season, to which he said: “We have to climb a mountain, that’s top football and sometimes you have to face challenges. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down but I am sure we will make it a success like we did the last two seasons.

“I think we are in a direction, underneath I see good things, I see good patterns, I see also good stats that confirm we are in a good direction but the ranking is not lying. We are where we are and it is not good enough.

“I think the players do well, we won last season. Maybe you forgot and when we face problems sometimes we have to line up teams that were not in the right balance because the players were not available.

“But, in general, the players do perform well and you see now we have to start scoring and that part is the most important part in football. If you want to win games you have to score goals. That part we have to improve.

“We are entering the final third, we are entering the box, we are coming in good positions to score but now we have to step up with the most important part is to net.”

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