Ahead of his side's pressure game against Brentford tomorrow afternoon (15:00 BST kick off), Erik ten Hag spoke to the media and hit back at reports saying that he could have been sacked.
"No, the noise is only coming from the media, from some of you, not all of you, creating stories and fairytales, bringing lies because I know we're on one page within this club."
He adds that inside the club, all is quiet about his future.
Erik ten Hag is still feeling positive about the rest of the season despite a poor start to his third year at the club.
The Dutchman says that challenges are there to be faced in top football and that despite his team's struggles this season, "I'm sure we will make a success".
He mentions what the side has accomplished in his two seasons and how they've won two trophies indicating that United can be successful. "I see the good things, good patterns and the good stats that confirms we're in a good direction"
However, ten Hag also admits that looking at where his club is, it's simply not good enough.
On team news, Erik ten Hag confirms that Noussair Mazraoui will be available for selection tomorrow but that Harry Maguire and Kobbie Mainoo will be out for a "couple of weeks."
He also says that Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia cannot be rushed back and that they have to be "clever" when it comes to the pair's return. ten Hag appears desperate for them to be back soon as he says that "this team needs a left full-back."
Christian Eriksen has been a standout performer this season and on his Danish midfielder, the MUFC boss is "very happy with his performances" and that Eriksen is "important for the team."
He also spoke about the need to score goals and how injuries don't help.
Quotes via The United Stand on X.
Final Thoughts
We all know that his future is still uncertain. A loss tomorrow and all the rumors will return.
But I do like the fact that ten Hag is hitting back at the reporters. Whether there was anything concrete from the club regarding his future or not, nothing did come out from Man Utd on whether they would keep or sack the Dutchman as they all continued as normal post the Villa draw.
It was the media who was assuming that we would be getting reports of ten Hag's future one way or another.
I do understand from the journalists' point of view because one would think that considering the manager's future and how much uncertainty there is on it and the fact that the club had a (scheduled) board meeting the Tuesday after drawing at Villa Park, we expected to be hearing something from United regarding the manager's future.
It's also the journalists' jobs to be putting out articles regularly, which made more sense that they would write about this.
I suppose he has to believe that he and his team can be successful regardless of the situation we're in. It is going to be difficult but this quote reminds me of what Solskjaer said after losing 2-0 at home to PSG: "Mountains are there to be climbed."
We went on to win 3-1 in Paris and go through to the quarters of the Champions League when nobody predicted it.
Perhaps ten Hag can take inspiration from his predecessor on overcoming great odds.
But do I believe we can actually turn it around? Of course I do, that's the whole point of being a United fan. While that may be blind faith and hope, I still have a feeling in me that we can do it, that we can turn things around.
If anyone is going to do it, it will be us.
There has been positives this season although it is out-weighed by the negatives but we should focus on those positives to help us improve and hopefully get us moving up the table in the league.
Good news to have Mazraoui available but of course, that has to be balanced with others going out. No Maguire and Mainoo is a big blow especially when they could miss a couple of weeks. There is a lot of football going to be played in a short space of time and we will need the numbers.
Background Image: Erik ten Hag | Image credit: Getty Images via Eurosport