It's never a dull day with United, is there? We really do just want a normal day of Barclays football 😭😭.
What came out from this interview was eye opening and can give us a better understanding into things at MUFC. Erik ten Hag spoke to Sky Sports on Monday after the hefty 3-0 spanking by Spurs at home on Sunday in which he was asked many things 👀.
Erik ten Hag interview
After that loss to Spurs, we all got that feeling that that was the last time the Dutchman would see Old Trafford as the MUFC boss.
However, in this interview, the manager says that he is relatively calm about his future and that he doesn't think too much about it although he is aware of the importance of the next two games in terms of deciding that future.
Here are some of the parts that I thought were interesting.
Belief and confidence
He was asked about whether the players lost their belief after such a performance and that confidence is one thing and belief is something else.
Erik ten Hag says that he feels the two are very similar. "Belief and confidence has to do with each other." He feels that one always has to believe both individually and in your team and that belief in the plan is key.
Responsibility
He was asked whether the players need to take more responsibility as when they're on the pitch, that responsibility is ultimately down to them.
"It's a shared responsibility. That's my job. I have to make them play. I have to give them instructions." ten Hag adds that when there are problems in the game, he has to help them try to solve them.
The Dutchman says that they all have to take the responsibility for poor performances like against Spurs. "I am in the same boat." He also says that when the players don't play as expected, he didn't do his job well enough.
"We have to fight together to get out of this."
Time
When it comes to time, it would appear that ten Hag doesn't have much remaining as MUFC boss. He was asked how long he thinks it would take him and his current group to get things right.
He answered that the club have been in a transition period for a long time and that when he joined in 2022, the club knew that changes needed to be made. "We had to replace some older players, bring new players in. Our choice was to bring in young players."
This all requires time as it takes time, according to the manager, to get your messages and game model across to the players and introduce a new culture. Despite all this, winning is still the thing that matters most.
ten Hag brought up how United have won two trophies in two seasons under him and that in the last 6 years, he's won 8 trophies as a manager.
He also believes that once the messages and game models gets across to the players "I am sure we will achieve the targets for the season."
Problems
When asked about how big the problem is at the moment and how big they are to solve, Erik ten Hag said that "nothing is easy but this is nothing for me to panic about."
This lack of panic by the Dutchman comes from experiencing these problems throughout his career and believes that they can fix the problem. "This team can sort this out."
ten Hag also feels that they can be successful this season. "We are going to make a success from this season."
The Dutchman reveals that he regularly communicates with the club's hierarchy with one of the points of discussion being how they can improve the process. He says that everyone is impatient including the fans and it's something that the fans are "entitled" to.
Despite the disappointments and frustrations of defeat, ten Hag says that that is the fuel for them to improve.
Feeling after the loss
Erik ten Hag says that his players are "disappointed" after losing 3-0 to Spurs but that he knows they are "resilient" and that they will bounce back.
He says that after every game, there is a discussion between the coaches and players on what happened during games and that they try to make sure they are all in agreement. "We make sure we are on one page and we stay on one page."
When asked whether he thinks every single one of them are all aligned and on the same page, Erik ten Hag said "yes."
He adds that his current group of players have a good spirit despite all the setbacks from the loss. "They kept going" and "they want to fight for each other."
ten Hag mentioned how the fans stuck by the team despite the difficulties of the Spurs game.
Future
On his future, he was asked where he will be here (MUFC manager) if things don't go well against Porto and Villa.
Erik ten Hag says that he's not thinking about his future nor is he anxious about it and that in the summer, the ownership and leadership agreed that they are all in this together.
They also knew that the strategy was about young players and being in a transition period and that trophies are what they're aiming for.
Final Thoughts
Belief and confidence
In terms of that belief and confidence, I do think that they are two things that go hand-in-hand. When you're confident about something, you'll believe in it even more. When you're not, the opposite is true.
I just don't see enough of this belief or confidence in this United side on a consistent enough basis. For the odd game or odd couple of games, sure, we can see the team is on a high much like Southampton and then Barnsley.
But as soon as things go south, that belief and confidence seems to disappear entirely which suggests to me that they don't always believe, as the manager says.
These are the exact type of situations where you need that belief and confidence even more as this is where you're truly judged. When it goes well, everyone can perform superbly but what you do when it doesn't defines you.
This all comes back to mentality.
Responsibility
I do understand that they share the responsibility and that it's a collective issue and yes, maybe his instructions weren't clear enough or good enough to beat any particular opponent, but I do also expect a level of responsibility from those who go out onto the pitch because then it is all on them.
Again, whether what the manager wants them to do is good enough or not, they just need to execute it as well as they can.
What we saw on Sunday was a group of players who didn't even try. There was a lack of effort and the types of goals we conceded especially the first, was unbelievable.
Yes the manager will have to take responsibility because he is the manager, he is in charge of them. But he isn't in control of them like EAFC.
On the pitch, it's up to the players to carry out their orders, which ours, clearly didn't.
Time
Patience is required. We are at the start of something new with INEOS. But for Erik ten Hag, he's been here for just over two seasons and has been backed more than any previous manager.
The style of play is still unclear even though there are aspects of it that has improved. A decent amount of his signings haven't been good enough (excluding Zirkzee, De Ligt, Mazraoui, Ugarte and Yoro who just arrived) with the only youngsters coming into the team being Garnacho and Mainoo who have admittedly been superb.
The rest are all experienced and have all played a good amount under ten Hag whether from his two years at United or previously at Ajax. By now, there should be a clear identity to the team and style even if it's execution isn't great.
Saying that we are still in a transition isn't completely untrue but that's only because INEOS have just joined the club. Under them, things could take time but after two seasons even without them, we should've been seeing signs of improvement as like I said, many of these players are experienced or have played under him for a long time before.
It shouldn't have taken this long to get his message across to the players.
But what I do agree with him on is that should they get things right, we can achieve some great things because I don't believe all our players are shite. It's just their attitude. Fix that and we should be ok.
Problems
He says he isn't panicking about the current situation or about his future and he looks very relaxed, at least on the outside, but let's be real, these next two games don't go well, he's gone. Even if they do, there's a good chance he's sacked anyway so I'm sure inside, he is sort of shitting himself.
I disagree that this current team/squad can sort out the problems. We've just been here too many times before which indicates that they really can't.
While there have been quite a few new recruits in ten Hag's time at United and a lot of players have gone in these last two years, the culture of being shite and having a poor mentality still remains as was evident against Spurs.
Until ALL those who are bad apples have been removed and the new culture comes in, I don't think we'll ever see a change.
While we are all impatient, I think that that impatience will slowly dissipate if we start to see actual improvements. As I said, we still have no clear identity and whenever there looks to be improvements, we inevitably perform like we did against Spurs which causes us to question whether ten Hag and these players are right for our club.
We need to see something.
Feeling after the loss
Are they resilient? Are they truly?
It seems to me that for a long time, they only look good, resilient and confident when things are going well. As soon as things go badly, they are nowhere to be found.
They always crumble under the pressure.
Tough times never lasts. Only tough people lasts. IYKYK.
Every team will have a discussion with each other after games to talk about what was right, wrong and everything in between. But for specific games like what we saw against Spurs, as there was nothing from the players, they should have no say.
As the manager, I would do a Pep Guardiola and tell them to "sit down and nobody talk" because what we saw on Sunday was atrocious. If they don't give their all, they should have no say.
I'm not entirely sure that they are on the same page tbh. They don't seem in tune with what the manager is saying otherwise I doubt that we would've seen such a performance on Sunday, unless ten Hag asked them to not show up, which I don't think was the case.
I'm not saying that all of them aren't on the same page only some of them but that is all that's needed for things to go wrong. One bad apple can spoil them all.
The fans will always be there to sing and cheer along especially in tough moments. It's what we do because we are passionate about our club and we love it. If only those players had those same feelings as well.
Future
I do think he will be sacked, perhaps he even knows that which is why he may not be too worried about it. That's just a guess but he does seem quite relaxed.
He always talks about the process but I feel as though we've never really had a clear indication of what this process is. He says it a lot but I don't know what it is. To win trophies? Great but which trophies? How are we going to play? Will we compete for the league and hopefully CL in the future?
I'm sure that the last thing INEOS will want to do is sack the manager having backed him publicly and in the transfer window, and the fact that they will have to pay him a reported £17.5m to get rid of him, but considering how things are going, maybe they will have no choice.
These next two games are massive and I don't think they will go as we'd all like.
What I will say in regards to ten Hag is that as the manager, he has to come out and back his players publicly. It would do none of them any good to hear the boss come out and talk shit about you even if he is right. These players already don't have much confidence so this would probably make things even worse.
He also needs them on his side for the next two games should he want to remain as their manager. ten Hag will need to do everything he can to get the players on his side and perform at their absolute best to help keep him in a job.
Watch the full interview on Sky Sports Premier League YouTube.
Background Image: Erik ten Hag after Man Utd's 2-1 loss at Brighton | Creator: Eddie Keogh | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Goal