Manchester United have made a poor start to the season, and Erik ten Hag is under a lot of pressure, while Andre Onana has disappointed.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is confident that his side will bounce back strongly and he has promised to fight back. The Red Devils are currently at the bottom of their UEFA Champions League group, and they are 10th in the Premier League table as well.
A club of their stature is expected to compete for major trophies, and it remains to be seen whether they can get back to winning ways soon. Erik ten Hag insisted the Red Devils would bounce back, with his comments appearing on The Guardian.
“Last season went brilliant, terrific, more than we could expect but also in this project we knew there would be gaps. We are in a very difficult period but we come out together, we fight together, we stick together – and that is me, the directors, the team. This is not us. We know we will do better.”
“There are no excuses. OK, we have maybe a bit of an unbalanced left side [because of injuries] but we can’t make the errors we are making. I have seen a team that was really connected, with a great spirit and they played in stages of the game fantastic – twice up, totally in control. And all of a sudden we made a mistake. I know football is a game of mistakes but I have to give coaching instructions how we have to do it with such situations and we got punished.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United summer signing Andre Onana has been criticised heavily for his underwhelming performances since joining the English club. The former Inter Milan goalkeeper has made a series of high-profile errors.
However, manager ten Hag has now lent his support to the struggling goalkeeper. The Dutchman worked with Onana during their time together at Ajax, and he has revealed that the Manchester United goalkeeper has the capability to be one of the best in the world and he has the personality to bounce back strongly.
Ten Hag said, “Andre was in one semi-final of the Champions League [with Ajax], he was in the final last season [with Internazionale] so he has capabilities to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he has shown that. We have already seen in games his great capabilities, also his personality. He will bounce back.”
Onana has had a disappointing start to life at Manchester United, and he will be desperate to bounce back strongly. It remains to be seen whether he can get back to his best once again. He was quite impressive for Inter Milan last season and he helped them reach the final of the UEFA Champions League.
There is no doubt that he has the quality to succeed at Manchester United, but he needs to regain his confidence and sharpness first. Manchester United won the League Cup last season and finished in the top three. They were expected to challenge for the league title this season. But things are clearly not going according to plan. Ten Hag was backed heavily during the summer transfer window and he will have to deliver the goods now.
