Erik ten Hag names five Man United leaders who must ‘step up’ after international break

Manchester United enter the international break following a 1-0 Premier League win against Luton Town and Erik ten Hag will hope for improved performances when his side return.

It was a wasteful display from The Reds on the weekend and Victor Lindelof’s strike ensured they received three points. Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho all missed clear chances during the game.

Overall performances have been poor so far this term from United and Ten Hag has called for characters within the squad to lead the team forwards.

Both Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are out of action until at least Christmas. The South American pairing are not only quality players but were two of the main leaders in the side from last term.

Without them, Ten Hag is looking towards the likes of Andre Onana, Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and captain Bruno Fernandes to push the team forward when they return to action.

“Definitely, we have such characters who can do it,” Ten Hag explained when asked if the experienced players were capable of boosting inexperienced squad members. “You mentioned Rapha [Varane], but I will mention Andre Onana, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, who in such moments show leadership, and Bruno [Fernandes], of course.

“We have enough players with character and personality to step up and lead the team. Casemiro and Martinez are not there, so others have to fill it in.”

The United manager won his 50th game in charge at the club on the weekend against Luton and became the fastest manager in club history to win 30 Premier League games.

“Not bad,” he replied when told of the achievements. “But I can’t celebrate that. We have other concerns, we have to perform better.

We needed the win and we got it but we could make life more easy by scoring early on and getting a second. We created the chances but we didn’t score apart from one.”