Man United in ‘right direction’ despite defeats – Ten Hag

MANCHESTER, England – Erik ten Hag insists Manchester United are heading in the “right direction” despite back-to-back Premier League defeats.

United have fallen 11 points out of the top four and could lose a third consecutive league game for the first time since 2015 when Everton visit Old Trafford on Saturday.

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The team's form, combined with the arrival of new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has put pressure on Ten Hag's job but the Dutchman says he is happy with the club's trajectory under his leadership.

“The project is going in the right direction when we have the players available,” Ten Hag said at a press conference on Friday. “Imagine if we had a lot more players available and not setbacks and injuries.

“When you compare him with other managers, other teams or former managers of this great club, you can see there is a bright future.

“We want to succeed, we have to succeed. Sometimes seasons go the way we do now, but we don't accept that, we will fight, we have problems and have had problems with the team in terms of injuries but with the players available, we will fight.

Ten Hag hopes the injury situation will ease, although he does not expect the players to return to face Everton.

Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans are expected to be available despite their early 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, but Rasmus Højlund and Harry Maguire are expected to return for the FA Cup tie against Liverpool.

Lisandro Martínez, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Omari Forson, Anthony Martial and Mason Mount remain absent.

“No team can handle that many injuries,” Ten Hag said.

“I think we played to the maximum when you take into account the availability of players. We missed so many key players during the season. The performances we saw when players were available in January and February, the performances are very good.”