Erik ten Hag was living every moment of his rejuvenated Manchester United side’s thumping victory over their fierce rivals and table toppers Arsenal. A brace from Marcus Rashford and a debut goal for £82 million signing Antony set the tone for United’s win as a response from the Gunners through Bukayo Saka went in vain. An exhilarated Ten Hag went on to announce that this is just the start of his turnaround at Old Trafford, and that the best is yet to come.
It won’t be completely wrong to say that Ten Hag has turned the tide at United after the club faced crashing defeats in their fist two games of the new season. Since then, the Red Devils have four wins in a row which include triumphs over Liverpool and Arsenal. They have also claimed two clean-sheets in the process to some relief of David de Gea who has let in 8 goals so far in 6 games.
We’re on our way- Erik ten Hag insists United are slowly getting back on track
Erik ten Hag has achieved what some might have termed undoable after their humiliating losses against Brighton and Brentford. And moreover, the Dutchman has done it without his talismanic forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ten Hag has benched the Portuguese for their four consecutive wins, opting for young legs who won’t feel tiresome in relentless pressing.
He has reaped the rewards of his decision as his young guns Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga are slowly blending into his philosophy. He has also got Antony now who knows his system in-out and has only added to his strength as was evident from his debut.
Talking about the win and his side’s display, Ten Hag said:
“Antony and Marcus both played great, they were a continual threat. Our offensive is really strong – they are creative and have speed. This is the first time they have played together and this performance is great to see.”
On being asked whether there are hidden ambitions of laying a foundation for fighting for the title on these wins four wins, Ten Hag quickly snapped back:
“I’m not thinking we’re there, but we’re on our way in a good direction. We have to keep going. We have to keep pushing, the attitude and mentality, set high standards every day, we have to do better, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Everyone has to bring their maximum to Carrington. From day one we set high standards.
“We live by those high standards, when you show discipline, you create a winning culture, that is what we have to work for. That is my demand, we have many players in the team who have won trophies and they have to bring that standard. I understand fans are dreaming, the standards of Manchester United has to be good, we’re at the start of a process, we’re still far away. We have to get better if you want to win trophies in the end.”
Erik ten Hag further talked about his team’s mentality, which dealt with Arsenal’s offense that has been in some form since the start of the new season. He said:
“Not worried [with Arsenal’s attacking threat], I know our defence can deal with that but they have a lot of creativity. We got a setback and we fight back. I like this mentality. Arsenal played well but we defended well – I never had the feeling that they’d break us.”
Manchester United and Ten Hag now kick-off their Europa League campaign mid-week against Spanish side Real Sociedad. All eyes will be on his team selection and whether or not he starts Mr. Champions League Cristiano Ronaldo up front in the Europa League. Meanwhile, Arsenal too begin their European journey in the Europa League after a gap of a year, against FC Zurich.