‘No issues’ – stern Ten Hag snaps at Man Utd sack claims with strongly-worded defence as Rashford rumours are shot down

Erik ten Hag in a Manchester United press conference

Erik ten Hag has issued a fierce response to claims he is on the brink of the sack at Manchester United – and has refuted all suggestions that he has lost the support of a portion of his players.

The Dutchman has lost 10 of his 21 games this season, with Manchester United appearing to stumble from one crisis to another. That has raised serious questions over Ten Hag‘s future in the wake of what has been the club’s worst start to a season since 1962/63.

Not only has Ten Hag had to contend with a series of disappointing results, he also appears to be battling a player mutiny in his ranks – with our story revealing a number of senior United players had become tired of Ten Hag’s ‘old school’ tactics and training methods.

It’s now claimed Ten Hag has been given three games to save his job, with a key week coming up that sees them take on Chelsea and Bournemouth in the Premier League, as well as a crunch Champions League match against Bayern Munich.

To that end, Ten Hag will need positive results in all three games to keep the pressure building on his shoulders.

And even if they do manage to see off Bayern, a win for either FC Copenhagen or Galatasaray in their final Group A game will see United tumbling out of the UCL regardless.

As a result, it was a very stern Ten Hag that faced the press on  Tuesday afternoon to preview Wednesday night’s clash against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag snaps back at Man Utd sack speculation

But in addressing claims he has lost his players, Ten Hag was eager to put across his side of the story.

Asked if there was disorder in the ranks, Ten Hag stated: “Not in the dressing room. Of course there are a lot of rumours but it is not that we get distracted by it.

“We are on a journey, a route, we know we are in transition but we are in the right direction, we construct a team, develop it, the team is progressing, young players coming in and you see the potential how they can contribute to a successful Manchester United team for the future.”

Asked if he is concerned if the stories were true, he added: “No, of course there are always in every team players who are not playing who are not as happy, not different as normal, you have to wait for the chance and that can come, but there are no issues.”

Furthermore, Ten Hag is adamant his players remain fully behind his regime, pinpointing a number of games where they had illustrated their determination to fight for the cause.

“Oh yes, I am sure, you can see for instance the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, every time the team is there, showed great character, great determination, resilience so we are together.

“You can see you can’t play such great football as we did recently without unity.”

Ten Hag insists he also encourages an open dressing room, whereby his players can approach him if not happy over certain issues.

“I listen always to my players and I give them always opportunities to tell, if the players have a different opinion of course I will listen.

“Maybe one or two [have told me], but it is about in general, the majority want to play like this proactive, dynamic brave that is what they want.

“You can see the players are behind it because of the performances against Everton and Galatasaray, we are really improving, we can’t make the goal we did against Everton if the players don’t embrace it.”

Ten Hag dismisses Marcus Rashford claims

One of the things thrown at Ten Hag was a lack of effort from his players in the match at Newcastle.

But against a hard-working side, he accepts that maybe it was an off-day, with the number of matches catching up on them.

“We are not robots, if you play three games in six days, tough games and by the end the fatigue can be an issue, never an excuse but it is there but against Galatsaray against Everton we played very good, against Newcastle we were not happy with our performance, We are the first to say, the players are the first, they are so self critical.”

Marcus Rashford came in for strong criticism from Jamie Carragher after the match, drawing unwelcome comparisons with a £57.6m transfer flop.

And with the player looking unhappy on the bench following his substitution at St James’ Park, it’s been suggested that Rashford is one of those who are no longer playing for him.

Ten Hag, however, insists there was a collective feeling that their last two results were just not good enough and insists Rashford was not the only player to feel disappointed.

“Everyone is disappointed, we saw Galatasaray, the performance and result in Newcastle, we are not the only team to lose there, they win all the games except for Liverpool but we want to win there and we did everything in our power but definitely our performance wasn’t good enough.”

Failure to win both their next two games will see the pressure on Ten Hag crank up to whole new levels, but the damage may already be done in the Champions League, with United now needing a major swing to reach the knockout stages.

DON’T MISS ~ Ten Hag sack: Man Utd axe ‘three games away’ as Paul Merson tears into ’embarrassing’ regime