Louis Saha disputes Erik ten Hag controversial comment as shocking Man United statistic emerges

Louis Saha has disputed Erik ten Hag’s suggestion that injuries have caused Manchester United’s downturn in form this season, despite acknowledging the difficulties at Old Trafford.

Saha, 45, joined United from Fulham in the 2004 January transfer market. He spent five seasons at the club before moving to Everton.

The former French footballer was asked by bettingodds.com about Ten Hag’s recent comments, where he attached blame for the season’s struggles on United’s horrid injury record.

Whilst Saha ultimately agreed that missing the likes of Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro has hurt United, he believes that the Dutch manager still has a good enough squad to deliver better results than they’ve been getting.

“Yes, we can expect more from this team,” stated Saha. “The team that he puts out is still better than most teams and they still lose. It’s not easy because they need consistency in their lineup, especially defensively.

“When you change every weekend it’s not helpful, but still, some good players make silly mistakes. You can see a lack of confidence, and you need a base of players who are very consistent with their confidence.

“It’s a tough job ten Hag has, it’s not an easy place to manage. Some players they’re missing are huge, Martinez, Casemiro, but that’s why they have a squad, and the current players should be delivering more.”

United ended 2023 with a defeat against Nottingham Forest, which made the calendar year one of their worst in history. The Reds have only lost more than 21 games in a year three times – 1930 (28), 1972 (25) and 1921 (24).

They face Wigan Athletic in their first game of 2024 in the FA Cup third-round and having been knocked out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup, Ten Hag and his team will be desperate to go deep in their only remaining cup competition.