Manchester United will kick off the 2024-25 Premier League season by hosting Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday. As the manager of the ‘Red Devils’, Erik ten Hag acknowledged that his team is not 100 percent ready but emphasized their commitment to improving as the season progresses.
“We are complete and we are now working together for, let’s say, 10 days and that will always take a while,” Ten Hag said. “But more teams will have this problem. At the start of the season, don’t drop points, work hard, make sure you are well organized in and out of possession – that gives you the best chance. But we will not [be] 100 percent, 100-percent in form. But we have to go from game to game to improve, to get higher performance levels in the team and individual players, and we will see how quickly we can go into this process.”
United finished the 2023-24 campaign in eighth place in the Premier League with 18 wins, six draws, and 14 losses but clinched the FA Cup title after defeating Manchester City in the final.
“The issues are there. But it’s not about the players who are not available,” Ten Hag said. “Like I said last season, it’s about the players who are available, and we have a good group. We can make a strong selection, we can put out a strong team, so we will do. [Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, and Noussair Mazraoui] will be in the squad.”
United recently signed De Ligt and Mazraoui from Bayern Munich this month. Both players previously worked with Ten Hag during their time at Ajax.
“I think he [Mazraoui] is a player who is quite difficult to put under pressure,” Ten Hag commented. “I think especially in English football, that can be very beneficial. There is always pressure on the ball, and this is a player whose key attribute is that it’s very difficult to put him under pressure because he often finds solutions.”
Reference(s):
Manager Ten Hag: Manchester United will build into the season
cgtn.com
