“I can’t…never” – Erik ten Hag makes worrying admission about Manchester United

Erik ten Hag is under external pressure at Manchester United following the latest defeat against Manchester City.

The 3-0 loss was kind to United, who failed to capitalise on a good opening 10 minutes in the game.

Whilst injuries have interrupted the flow at Old Trafford so far this term, five defeats in their opening 10 Premier League games is not good for the Dutch manager.

The biggest problem that many fans have is that they are not seeing the build-up of a style of play from Ten Hag. There is little progress shown and that means the negative results are even tougher to take.

Those who watched his Ajax side before the move to United were excited about having that style implemented at Old Trafford. However, Ten Hag has stated that he will not be going back to that whilst at United.

Asked by Viaplay, as transcribed by TheEuropeanLad, when he’ll be able to show similar football at United to what he showed at Ajax, Ten Hag replied: “Never. We will never play that football. Because those were different players.

“This is also not why I came here. We are playing different football than I showed at Ajax because I have to, because I can’t play the same way.”

“The players decide how you play. Ajax has a very typical and characteristic style of play, with Manchester United I will always show different football, I did so last year as well. We play much more direct football here because I have the players for that here.”

These will be worrying comments to many who were expecting a change to come soon for United.

It appears strange that the manager would not look to build the kind of team that got him the United job in the first place. But, it ultimately depends on the players you have, as the manager suggested.

Yet, Lisandro Martinez was brought in at the back, Andre Onana behind him. As well as the likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Christian Eriksen and Mason Mount; these are players who seem to suit the way Ten Hag played previously. And he brought them in.

Perhaps the manager is in panic mode and feels unable to adapt to that different style without conceding results. It’s a double-edged sword, however, and he needs to show some sort of progression in the coming months.