Under-fire Erik ten Hagen Hag is convinced he has the support of Manchester United’s players, despite accusations that he has lost some of the dressing room.
The Dutchman’s difficult second season as manager continued on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.
A tenth defeat in all competitions this season prompted various allegations that Ten Hag had lost the trust of up to half of his players, with references to worries about his style, tactics, and recruitment.
As a result, immediately before Tuesday’s press conference to promote the midweek Premier League match against Chelsea, the club blacklisted four media sites.
United said the action was made because the company did not “contact us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge, or contextualise,” adding that it was “an important principle to defend.”
When asked if he still believed he had the necessary buy-in from his players to be successful, Ten Hag said, “Oh yes, I’m sure.”
“However, you can see, for example, the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, so every time the team is there, it displays great character.”
“Great determination and resilience, so yeah, we’re in this together.”
“And you can see you can’t play such great football what we did lately if there is no unity.”
Ten Hag dismissed Newcastle as “one bad performance” following the 3-0 league win at Everton and the 3-3 Champions League draw at Galatasaray, and he addressed the press bans.
“They should come to us first and not go around our back printing articles,” United manager Jose Mourinho remarked. “That’s not the way to go.
“I believe we have another relationship, and they should inform us beforehand.” We’re having a normal and professional discourse about it.”
When asked if he was concerned about allegations of player unhappiness, the United manager said, “No.”
“Of course there are always in every team players who are playing less, who are less happy…. you have to wait for their chance and that can come, but, no, there are no issues.”
There were no questions asked during the news conference about Wednesday’s match against Chelsea, who are managed by Mauricio Pochettino, Ten Hag’s biggest competitor for the Old Trafford job in 2022.
The former Ajax manager immediately supervised improvements on and off the field at United, but his attitude has been criticised this season.
“I always listen to my players,” the Dutchman stated. “And I always give them opportunities to tell (me).” Of course, if the players disagree, I will listen to them.
“But they haven’t told me, or maybe one or two have, but it’s about the majority, so they want to play like this — proactive, dynamic, and brave.” That is exactly what they desire.
“You can see the players are behind it because of the performances against Everton, Galatasaray, and we are really improving.”