At Old Trafford, the most optimistic who hoped to see change with the start of the INEOS era were disappointed. Excluded from the Premier League title battle for a few years now, Manchester United continue to make fools of themselves in the championship. After an inaugural success against Fulham (1-0), the Red Devils quickly became disillusioned with two defeats against Brighton (1-2) and Liverpool (0-3).
The slap received at home against the Mersey rival has also caused a lot of ink to flow, particularly after the notable statement by Erik ten Hag at the end of the match.It’s not like I’m Harry Potter. You have to admit that. For three players, it was their first start of the season.» But after more than €210 million invested in the transfer market, ETH’s argument does not convince many people.
MU stands firm
Relegated to fourteenth place in the Premier League standings, six points behind the leaders, MU have already had to break their silence to discuss the case of Erik ten Hag. “Erik has our full support and we have worked closely together during this transfer window. We will continue to work closely with him to help him achieve the best results for the team. Absolutely. We believe Erik is the right coach for us and we fully support him.”confided the Manchester manager Omar Berrada. Is this a facade speech, at a time when the English media have often announced that MU wanted to get rid of the Dutchman? The new sporting director Dan Ashworth has dodged the question of ETH’s extension, but assures that he is there to support him.
“I only started on July 1st so I had no say (in the extension). All I can do is reiterate what Omar said: I have really enjoyed working with Erik over the last eight weeks. I see my job as supporting him in every way I can, whether that is operationally, scouting, medical, psychology or training ground organisation. It is simply about taking as much of that off his plate as possible so he can concentrate fully on the training ground and tactically in the match to ensure Manchester United are successful.”. It remains to be seen whether all this talk will last.
