“I totally ignored…” – Erik ten Hag makes concerning Man United point that fans won’t like

Erik ten Hag has made a concerning point about his struggling Manchester United side that fans simply won’t like.

Manchester United have had an underwhelming start to Erik ten Hag’s third season in charge. It is grim reading when you check the tables to see the club 12th in the Premier League and 21st in the new Europa League format.

There have been some positives since the beginning of the campaign but they have been surrounded by large concerns.

Ten Hag was on thin ice last season but the new regime at Old Trafford decided to ultimately give him a final chance after the FA Cup final heroics.

However, with the pressure now building on the Dutchman due to how he is getting the team to perform on the pitch, he simply does not help himself with his comments away from the field.

We’d all be laying on the floor drunk every day if you took a shot every time the manager has mentioned the two trophies he won at the club. “Remember, six years before, this club didn’t win any trophies, so we’re coming back,” he said last week.

Ten Hag just seems unable to take responsibility and that was evident in his latest press conference more than ever, and fans are not happy with it.

When asked about the 3-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, the United boss staggeringly stated that he is “totally ignoring” that game in his assessments because of the Bruno Fernandes red card – which was rightfully overturned – being an “injustice”.

“I denied that game, ignored that game against Spurs because we were downsized to 10 with a 1-0 losing position. And then the red card was overturned,” he said.

“So I totally ignored that game. That is not a fair assessment to the team to take this into consideration. Because we didn’t have the chance to bounce back, but you see this team is resilient.

“This team is determined, as you said, on Brentford. But in the two tough away games now in Europe, Porto and today [Thursday] again, this team has character. And this team showed fighting spirit and determination to win games.

“It was not fair to assess the team because there was a sending-off from one of our best players, our captain, and it was overturned. Everyone agreed it was not a right decision, so it was injustice.”

Yet, the Dutch manager seems to forget that United fans were able to watch that game and know how terrible the team looked before the sending off. In fact, they were probably better once down to 10 men.

And while they may have gotten back into the game in the second half, we are still waiting for an Erik ten Hag side to play well for 90 minutes of football. It has not happened yet. The Spurs game is not an outlier.

Questions remain over the tactics and approach from this manager, but his work in the press conference room almost always seems to make matters worse.

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