Erik ten Hag conducted his pre-game press conference on Thursday afternoon ahead of Man Utd's trip to Brighton in matchweek 2 of the Premier League on Saturday at 12:30 BST.
One of the major takeaways from this presser was that the manager was "pleased" with the business done by United so far in the summer window.
He was asked whether he was happy with the business to which ten Hag replied "Yes, very pleased. They’re showing we’re going in the right direction, we know as a club we have to catch up but it shows our ambition, the way we want to go, we have done good business, very good players, quality players who will add, contribute to our squad."
He also said that patience is required and the club "will always try to make the best squad possible" and that with a couple of days left of the transfer window they will look to improve.
In terms of outgoings, the manager said that he didn't say he's looking for incomings nor did he say that players are going out. "Patience. You guys wait."
One of the main targets for the Red Devils has been Manuel Ugarte. Throughout the window, MUFC and PSG have been trying to work out the best deal to bring the midfielder to Old Trafford. When asked about this, Erik ten Hag answered that "when we have news we will bring it."
The manager also discussed Jadon Sancho saying that he hopes they will have a squad with double positioning but that "that means you can't select all the players but you need them all throughout the season."
He added that "the attitude of the players is very important, sometimes they will be disappointed they have to deal with it, you win as a squad."
ten Hag also expressed his contentment with new striker Joshua Zirkzee and that scoring on his debut will give him a lot of confidence straightaway whereas Rasmus Hojlund had to wait three months before his first league goal after a disallowed goal against Brighton in September last year.
The Dutchman mentioned Facundo Pellistri's departure and that while he knows Pellistri is very talented, "we have a lot of competition in wide areas." He also said that "we couldn’t give him the right perspective but he has high potential and he needs games to improve and progress."
In terms of the team news for Brighton, Erik ten Hag said that Tyrell Malacia, Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw are all out, which is as expected. This means that we should expect the same squad that was available against Fulham.
Press conference quotes via Manchester Evening News.
Final Thoughts
You can expect him to say that he's happy with the current business. He ain't gonna come out and say 'no, what we've done is not good enough.' Imagine if he did though.
I'm sure that he is more happy than not but without that midfielder (yet) and left-back, he is probably a little unhappy because we absolutely need players in those areas.
Where I do agree with him though, is that there is still over a week of the window left so patience is required. However, I don't think we will want to be coming to deadline day and still not have Ugarte. That would be a disaster.
I'd like that deal to be done before the end so we don't have to sweat our balls off that the Uruguayan may not arrive in Manchester at all. It would also be great if he was ready for Liverpool, something that I'm sure ten Hag would like as well.
On links to players, usually he says 'I don't talk about players who aren't United players' so it was interesting to hear him give a different and slightly more open answer.
While we all know that Ugarte seems highly likely to join United as the deal is 'imminent', 'close', 'closer than close', 'the closest it's ever been', and so on, you would expect the manager to not truly acknowledge this.
In saying that, I do like that he's not completely dismissing a player that we all know he and the club desperately wants given all the reports.
Hopefully that deal can be done soon.
As for Pellistri, another Uruguayan, I've said that I always felt as though ten Hag never rated him that highly hence his lack of game time at Old Trafford and him wanting to move. While yes, there is good competition out wide at the moment, we only have two wingers who are truly performing in Garnacho and Amad. Rashford hasn't been good for a year while you could argue that Pellistri is better than Antony and Sancho in one way or another.
He deserved more opportunities at United.
What he said about players' attitude being very important while discussing Sancho probably indicates that he isn't happy with the player's mindset. Why say this when asked about him specifically?
Maybe saying this is to try and get some sort of reaction out of Jadon? Although he probably thought his comments about him post the Arsenal defeat last year would've done the same.
He did get a reaction but not the one he wanted.
I've always thought of Sancho as the ideal ten Hag player when looking at his attributes. He's skillful, unselfish, can play in tight spaces, is relatively quick and very creative. It's just that il-discipline and lack of work rate that is a problem. Not having the right mindset to overcome these issues and try to prove the manager wrong has led to Sancho's downfall at United.
On Zirkzee, I hope he starts because he should be up to speed by now after 8 more days of practice. I hope the manager doesn't start him from the bench again as like he said, Zirkzee's confidence will be up after his debut goal. Being benched again may quench that fire he had after matchday 1.
Background Image: Joshua Zirkzee and Erik ten Hag during the win against Fulham | Creator: DARREN STAPLES | Credit: AFP via Getty Images Copyright: AFP or licensors via Goal