Under-fire Erik ten Hag is convinced he has the support of Manchester United’s players, despite accusations that he has lost some of the dressing room.
The Dutchman’s difficult second season as manager continued on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.
A tenth defeat in all competitions this season prompted various allegations that Ten Hag had lost the trust of up to half of his players, with references to worries about his style, tactics, and recruitment.
As a result, immediately before Tuesday’s press conference to promote the midweek Premier League match against Chelsea, the club blacklisted four media sites.
United said the move was done because the company did not “contact us first to allow us to comment, challenge, or contextualize,” adding that it was “an important principle to defend.”
Asked if he believed he still had the requisite buy-in from his players to be successful, Ten Hag said: “Oh yes, I’m sure.
“But you can see, for instance, the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, so every time the team is there, showed great character.
“Great determination, resilient, so yeah, we are together.
“And you can see you can’t play such great football as we did lately if there is no unity.”
Ten Hag downplayed Newcastle as “one bad performance” after the 3-0 league win at Everton and the 3-3 Champions League draw at Galatasaray, and addressed the bans handed out to journalists.
“They should come to us first and not go around our back printing articles,” the United manager said. “That’s not the right thing.
“I think we have another relationship, and then they should give that to us beforehand. We have a normal and professional discussion and debate about it.”
Pushed on whether he was concerned there was truth behind reports of player unhappiness, the United manager said: “No.
“Of course there are always in every team players who are playing less, who are less happy… you have to wait for their chance and that can come, but, no, there are no issues.”
There were no questions asked during the news conference about Wednesday’s match against Chelsea, who are managed by Mauricio Pochettino, Ten Hag’s biggest competitor for the Old Trafford job in 2022.
The former Ajax manager immediately supervised improvements on and off the field at United, but his approach has been criticized this season.
“I listen always to my players,” the Dutchman said. “And I give them always the opportunities to tell (me). If the players have a different opinion, of course, I will listen.
“But they haven’t told me, or maybe one or two (have), but it’s about in general, so the majority, they want to play like this — proactive, dynamic, brave. That is what they want.
“You can see the players are behind it because of the performances against Everton, and Galatasaray, and we are really improving.”