Erik ten Hag has insisted there is fight in his Manchester United squad despite the club’s consecutive home defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle.
Manchester United face Fulham in the Premier League this weekend, looking to bounce back from successive home humblings. The Red Devils were beaten 3-0 in last weekend’s Manchester Derby, before losing by the same scoreline to Newcastle at Old Trafford to exit the Carabao Cup.
Those defeats continued a poor start to the season for Ten Hag’s team, who have lost nine of their 15 games in all competitions. The nature of the recent losses has seen the fight in the squad questioned, but Ten Hag insists there has since been a positive reaction within the group.
“[There’s been a] positive reaction. They want to put this right, we know the standards here and we have to make those standards every day,” Ten Hag told his pre-match press conference.
“We will fight back. The players are strong, the coaches are strong and the manager is strong.”
Ten Hag pointed to the comeback win against Brentford last month, in which United scored twice in stoppage time to turn defeat into victory, as evidence of the spirit in his squad.
“Remember only the fight we showed against Brentford and the comeback. If there wasn’t spirit or fight in the dressing room, we couldn’t do that.
“I have a good squad and I’m convinced in the players in this dressing room.
“These players, as you saw last year, can do better and I need to let them play better. That is my responsibility.
“I’m not thinking about [transfer] windows because I have a good squad and we will play better when players return from injury.”
