Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag admitted his side are “underperforming” after they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham at the London Stadium....CONTINUE READING
Ten Hag is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked and talk regarding his potential exit on social media will only grow following Man Utd’s trip to face West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils have been impacted by injuries this season but this is not an adequate explanation for what’s fast becoming a disastrous campaign.
Very little separated Man Utd and West Ham at the London Stadium before Jarrod Bowen broke the deadlock with around 20 minutes to go. The England international latched onto a stunning through ball by Lucas Paqueta before converting past Andre Onana.
Just six minutes later, Paqueta capitalised on a mistake by Kobbie Mainoo as the Brazil international set up summer signing Mohammed Kudus, who raced towards goal before finishing past Onana.
It finished 2-0 and this result lifts West Ham to sixth in the Premier League. Man Utd meanwhile have dropped down to eighth ahead of the rest of this weekend’s fixtures.
Having already been knocked out of the Champions League and Carabao Cup, Man Utd are without a goal in four games across all competitions and have lost eight of their first 18 Premier League games this season.
Speaking post-match, Ten Hag admitted Man Utd were punished for “switching off” but they were “decent” before Bowen’s opener.
“I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn’t take our chances. We should’ve gone in the lead but we didn’t and then it was one moment of switching off,” Ten Hag told reporters.
On Alejandro Garnacho’s missed opportunity, he added: “I think he is confident, he’s in good form at the moment. He was one on one with the keeper and he could’ve taken it but we didn’t.
“We tried. West Ham weren’t running behind us for a long period in the game and then they got the goal and then of course you encourage the team. From that, they were very aggressive defending the box and from that moment it’s difficult to create a chance.”
When asked about United’s poor form against top opposition, Ten Hag continued: “At this moment we are not top, but we have seen last week against the top of this league we were head-to-head.
“We didn’t score, we had the best opportunities of the game. There we defended very well for 90 minutes, that has to be always our standard like what we did there. You have to bring that to every game on the pitch.
“In 2023, we won a Cup, we played the FA Cup final, we were third in the league. There were highlights but we are over-performing, but in this moment we are underperforming.
“There are reasons for it, we have many injuries, so the team will be better if the injured ones return. We have to be calm, stick together, stick to the plan, we have to do it together.”…CONTINUE READING>>
