Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag plays the victim amid ‘pressure’ claim as he responds to ‘noisy’ critics
Head coach Erik ten Hag reckons critics “want” him to “fail” at Manchester United as he has given his verdict on the external “noise and pressure”.
Ten Hag has been heavily criticised over the past year or so as he was at risk of losing his job throughout last season.
Man Utd struggled en route to finishing eighth in the Premier League last term, but their last game of the season appeared to save him as they beat arch-rivals Man City at Wembley to win the FA Cup.
The Red Devils were linked with several potential replacements, but co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new-look recruitment team committed to Ten Hag, who has extended his contract until 2026.
However, Ten Hag has already been slammed at the start of this campaign as Man Utd have two losses and two wins in their opening four Premier League games.
Ten Hag is among the favourites to be the first Premier League manager sacked this season and Ratcliffe has reportedly ‘sounded out’ his replacement.
Despite this, Ten Hag is insistent that he “feels the backing”, but he admits “there is pressure” when Man Utd “are losing”.
“I know when we are losing, there is pressure, there is noise so I don’t have to read these articles what’s coming up because I know it’s there,” Ten Hag said.
“But yes, to answer your question, I feel the backing.
“I feel we are in this together and we are in a new season and yeah, we will go again for silverware and we will go again to construct a good team and yeah, of course, we hope to do it as in the first season, but if we have say setbacks, we’ll deal with it and then still we have to win.”
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Man Utd have won back-to-back games as they are coming off victories over Southampton and Barnsley. On Saturday evening, they visit Selhurst Park as they face Crystal Palace.
Ahead of this match, Ten Hag has admitted that he feels his critics “want” him to “fail”. Poor baby.
“Oh, they always want to let Manchester United fail,” Ten Hag added.
“And the only way we can change this, and that is we as a team we have to turn this around and we know how to do it and we know we have to win. And when we don’t win, there is the criticism and we have to deal with this.
“But when we do the things right, we are confident we can deal with all of this and we can perform, and we have shown it so often.”
