Old Trafford bosses decided to give Ten Hag their backing in the summer after the Dutchman steered United to an unlikely FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, 12 months on from the side’s Carabao Cup triumph.
But Ten Hag finds himself under mounting pressure once again after a woeful start to the 2024/25 campaign, with the Red Devils languishing down in 13th place in the Premier League table.
United were also held to an uninspiring 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente in their Europa League opener and widespread reports indicate Ten Hag has two games to save his job, starting at Porto tomorrow night.
Just three days later, Ten Hag’s travel to Unai Emery’s dangerous Aston Villa team – one of the few sides United managed to beat both home and away in the Premier League last season.
‘Always when we are not winning we are very disappointed,’ Ten Hag told reporters at his pre-match press conference in Porto this evening.
‘We are also mad, mad with ourselves, especially when you lose a game like Sunday. Also, after all that, we had to play so long with ten players and then the red card is overturned – that gives frustration. But you have to deal with it.
‘We are mad and now from the madness, we have to get motivation and we go into the next game.’
While Ten Hag has taken the brunt of the criticism in recent days, the United manager insists it is the responsibility of ‘everyone’ to turn the situation around.
‘Everyone has to take responsibility and that starts with me as the manager,’ he said when asked whether it was up to United’s senior players to stand up.
‘But, of course, there are senior players but also others with leadership skills and they have to stand up.
‘Every game for us is important and every opponent is always 100 per cent motivated so we have to be ready as a team and as individuals to compete and fight with them.’
Asked whether he had spoken to United’s sporting director, Dan Ashworth, amid speculation over his future, Ten Hag replied: ‘It’s not necessary to give me confidence.
‘We talk every day about how we can improve this club, this team, improve the processes, the procedures, the connections.
‘That is what we talk about.’
Ten Hag explained that United’s new-look hierarchy made an agreement in the summer to stick together and speak on a daily basis.
The former Ajax head coach continued: ‘We talk every day.
‘We are in a union and we made that agreement in the summer. We had a discussion, we had a review and we made our decisions.
‘We refreshed and we reset the staff and I appointed my assistants, I appointed the staff. It was, of course, in a common process but I did this and we refreshed the squad as well.’
Man Utd squad for Porto clash
Goalkeepers: Onana, Bayindir, Heaton.
Defence: De Ligt, Evans, Maguire, Lindelof, Martinez, Dalot, Mazraoui.
Midfield: Fernandes, Gore, Mainoo, Eriksen, Ugarte, Collyer, Casemiro.
Attack: Amad, Garnacho, Hojlund, Antony, Rashford, Zirkzee.
Mason Mount was left out of United’s squad for Porto after coming off with a nasty head injury in Sunday’s defeat to Spurs.
At his presser, Ten Hag revealed that the United midfielder had also picked up a knock, putting his involvement in the club’s trip to Aston Villa in some doubt.
Asked for an update on Luke Shaw, Ten Hag said: ‘We hope that he can return soon after the international break.
‘I don’t know if it will be for the first game. We hope so, but I can’t confirm that for sure.’
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