“We can do it away” -Erik ten Hag names next step for Manchester United

Erik ten Hag has named an increase in Manchester United’s away form as the next step they need to take in order to continue improving.

Manchester United‘s home form this season has been nothing short of spectacular – after an opening day defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, United have not lost a domestic fixture at Old Trafford, and have only suffered one other defeat across all competitions in a 1-0 Europa League loss to Real Sociedad in September.

United have won every single one of their last 13 fixtures at Old Trafford, including victories over Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa across three competitions.

While this home form has no doubt created a fortress-type atmosphere at Old Trafford once again, Erik ten Hag has explained that the next step for his squad is to recreate this level of form away from home.

Speaking about United’s brilliant home form ahead of the Premier League fixture against Leeds United, Erik ten Hag explained that this was one of his aims this season; to make Old Trafford hard to win at for the away side once again.

“It was one of our aims this season to get that back,” he said. “It’s part of the process to restore United to the club they were once.

“Home is good, away we also have good results but away we show need to show even more personality. That’s the next step we have to make to have the same personality away as we do at home.”

Ten Hag has explained that the United players need to start showing the personality away from home that they currently display so well at Old Trafford, and says that the players need to be aware that despite playing away, the fans are still there to cheer on the Red Devils.

“It’s great to have the connection with Old Trafford but I think we have to be aware when we play away we have a lot of fans following us,” Ten Hag said. “We can do it away. Pitches are the same size. 11 players. We have to grow but we are happy so far and it’s a good challenge.”

Manchester United have not performed at their best away from home this season, losing to the likes of Brentford, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Arsenal while on the road – most of United’s dropped points in the league this season have come from undesirable away results.

The progression shown under Ten Hag in the last six months is clear, and it feels like only a matter of time before he can instil the same mentality away from home that he has done so well at Old Trafford.