Man Utd v Fulham: ‘Of course we are ready’ insists Ten Hag, a day after stating ‘the team is not ready’
Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are “ready” for their Premier League opener against Fulham, a day after insisting they are “not ready”.
Man Utd host Fulham on Friday evening as the 2024/25 Premier League season gets underway.
Fulham beat the Red Devils at Old Trafford last season and it’s been a busy summer for them, bringing in the likes of Emile Smith Rowe for over £30million and selling Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Man Utd manager Ten Hag stated that his side are “not ready” for the campaign.
“The team is not ready but the league starts,” the Dutchman said. “We can’t hide from it. We have to deal with it.”
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And speaking on Friday night before his side’s match against Fulham, Ten Hag said: “Of course we are ready. We are excited and looking forward to the new season. We want to go forward.
“The previous years it was my squad so that doesn’t change. We developed young players they are more mature, they contribute and we are happy. Also, it fits through the DNA of Man Utd to bring young players up.
“We have brought players in and it fits our style.
“It is always to important (to start the season well). You want to have good start to build a good foundation for the rest of the season.
“Everyone knows not everything will be 100% – but you have to deal with it and get a result.”
On Fulham beating Man Utd at Old Trafford last season, Ten Hag added: “Of course you have to do things better and in that particular game we were struggling and we conceded a goal from a corner.
“We have to do things better and we have improved over the last games, I am happy with the process we are in.”
Full-back Noussair Mazraoui will make his debut against the Cottagers and is expected to play left-back with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia injured.
“As a full-back his first job is to close the wide areas and he is good at it,” Ten Hag said about the former Bayern player. “He is a good defender and he has good agility.
“He can contribute to our build-up and our attacking game.”
Man Utd have signed Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro this summer and are expected to bring in a new defensive midfielder, with PSG’s Manuel Ugarte their number-one target.
“We cannot stand still,” Ten Hag said when asked if we should expect more signings. “It depends on what happens in the market, but I am happy with the squad and I am confident going into the season.”
Having made up with Ten Hag following a public fall out last September, Jadon Sancho enjoyed a full pre-season. Surprisingly, he is not even on the bench to face Fulham in this Premier League season’s curtain raiser.
The 24-year-old has been linked with a move to PSG and could make the switch in a transfer including Ugarte.
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