Erik ten Hag insists it is ‘only a matter of time’ before Manchester United find their feet under him after a tricky start to the new season.
United have won as many matches as they have lost so far this campaign and were swept aside with ease by Manchester City last weekend.
They will be looking to get their season back on track when they host Newcastle in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup tonight, which will see a rematch of February’s showpiece final in the same competition.
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United ended their trophy drought with a 2-0 win at Wembley that day, and Ten Hag wants his side to rise to the challenge of dealing with the pressure again.
“Every single day, there is pressure on everybody involved with this club, but those demands and standards are a challenge which we must always meet head-on,” he told United Review. “While this has not been the start to the season that we had all hoped for, I am certain that we have the talent and attitude as a collective to move in the right direction. I believe that it is only a matter of time before we are showing our true selves. It will come, I am certain.”
The United manager pointed to their three consecutive wins over Brentford, Sheffield United and Copenhagen as evidence of their winning mentality already this season, a feat achieved while his side were without a number of key players through injury.
While United’s struggles can’t be put down solely to their current injury situation, it has certainly been a contributing factor, and Ten Hag is hopeful of having more players back in the coming weeks.
He added: “I continue to believe in these players and am confident we will improve after a difficult start to the season. On Sunday, in the first half particularly, we showed good defensive discipline and we created opportunities to counter-attack, but we were unable to capitalise on those chances at decisive times in the game. Important moments went against us and we were once again reminded that any mistake is punished at the highest level.
“Before the derby, we won three games in a row and demonstrated our character on each occasion, so we have developed in recent weeks. We are also gradually getting some players back from injury, which gives us more options and allows us to select players in their natural positions.”
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