Erik ten Hag speaks for first time on Man Utd future after seven-hour crisis meeting
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag seemed to be in a precarious position heading into the international break, however, the Dutchman is still at the helm following a board meeting
by Dan Marsh · The MirrorErik ten Hag has dismissed speculation over his future as "fairytales" amid reports claiming the Manchester United manager was at risk of losing his job.
Scrutiny had grown on the Dutchman in the weeks leading up to the international break, where United's top brass - including Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer - held a meeting to discuss the season so far.
United have won just two of their opening nine matches in all competitions and are languishing in 14th place ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures, where the Red Devils host Brentford.
Despite their poor form, Ten Hag is still being backed by Ineos - and he took the opportunity to rubbish speculation in his pre-match press conference, though he went on to admit results do have to improve in the coming weeks.
Speaking on Friday, Ten Hag said: "Noise is only coming from some of you [media], creating stories and fairytales, bringing lies. Journalists didn’t believe me. I saw the reports. Of course, we are unhappy with the position where we are. Ultimately, we are quiet and composed. We stick to the plan and are very convinced it will be a success."
He also said: "We have to climb a mountain, but that's top football, sometimes you have to face challenges, but I'm sure we will make a success, just like we did in the last two seasons.
"I see the good things, good patterns and the good stats that confirms we're in a good direction, but the ranking doesn't lie and where we are isn't good enough."
Ten Hag received another welcome boost during the international break when the two red-hot favourites to step in at Old Trafford in Thomas Tuchel and Gareth Southgate, are now both off the market for the time being, with the former landing the England job.
He took the opportunity to wish the former Chelsea manager well when he was asked about Tuchel's new role and insisted that the FA had made the right call.
Ten Hag said: "I think very good choice from the FA. He is a top class manager, proved himself. England has world-class players. They have the opporunbity to win big championships."
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