Erik ten Hag demands 'patience' from angry Man Utd fans as pressure builds on boss
Erik ten Hag is coming under increasing pressure amid Manchester United's dreadful start to the season, but the Dutchman is demanding more time from the club's angry fans
by David McDonnell · The MirrorErik ten Hag has called on Manchester United fans to show patience as he tried to develop some consistency with his team.
United's stuttering start to the season continued with Wednesday's lamentable 1-1 Europa League draw against FC Twente at Old Trafford. Ten Hag's side have already dropped eight points from a possible 15, to stand 11th in the Premier League, ahead of Sunday's visit of Tottenham.
Some fans are losing patience with Ten Hag, who is now in his third full season at United, having spent £615million across five transfer windows. The under-pressure United boss admitted he is impatient for success, but urged the club's supporters to give him time to make the team great again.
“I think you have to assess the situation,” said Ten Hag. “Still we are working and [a work in] progress. We had to sign players, but we made a choice to sign very young players, like last year with Rasmus Hojlund, like this year with Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro.
“They are players we believe in, at this moment and also for the future, and we have to build them. I think we turned a corner in the last two weeks, but we have to work with the squad and that takes time.
“But I'm also impatient and I want to go straight forward, but also [don't forget] we had success in the last two seasons and we have to work hard to bring more success.
“We won two trophies in the last two seasons, we're ambitious and we want to win another one and be as high as possible and go in every game to win - it doesn't matter who the opponent is.
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“I think every team has this in a season. When you play 60 games, sure there will be games where you're not happy with the performance, and there is always the psychological side of top football, where any team has more hunger than the other. The team who can manage this the most will be the most successful. We're ambitious and always demand we are hungrier.”
Scoring has been United's major problem this season, with Ten Hag's side having managed just five goals in as many Premier League game, with the Dutchman admitting that must improve.
“Not scoring goals, not scoring enough goals,” said Ten Hag. “That's the problem. We have players across the team who have the ability to score, that's clear. You see all the opportunities we're creating, but we're not scoring enough.”
After drawing with Twente, United now host Spurs on Sunday before their second Europa League clash against Porto. They then travel to top-four chasing Aston Villa before the season's second international break.
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