Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager, has called out the media for making “stories, fairy tales, and lies” about his future at the English club despite their last win in all competitions arriving exactly a month ago. After a string of tough results in recent times, including a 0-3 defeat at home to Tottenham, there has been intense scrutiny on Erik ten Hag’s job, particularly with a pre-planned board meeting of the club’s hierarchy last week in London.
Notably, in their last five matches, Manchester United have drawn four, which included their trips to Crystal Palace, Porto, and Aston Villa in all competitions. Following an embarrassing defeat against Tottenham at Old Trafford, Jamie Redknapp, the former England midfielder, remarked that Erik ten Hag was “out of his depth,” while the media haven’t been too kind on him in their reporting on him either.
The noise is only coming from some of you, creating stories and fairytales and bringing lies: Erik ten Hag to media
Before going into the international break, Manchester United drew 0-0 at Villa Park, to find themselves in 14th place in the Premier League after seven games, which is their worst ever start to any season in the league. In his post-match comments after the drawn game, Erik ten Hag spoke about how he and the rest of the club are on “one page.”
Although, prior to hosting Brentford at Old Trafford on Saturday, October 19, in the press conference, the Manchester United manager accused the journalists of ignoring his comments and said, as per the BBC, “The noise is only coming from some of you, creating stories and fairytales and bringing lies. I know we are on one page at this club. I said this before the break. I told several journalists. Probably the journalists didn’t believe me because I saw the reports. But internally, it is quiet.”
Moreover, Erik ten Hag also spoke about how Manchester United are not quite where they want to be in the ongoing season as they run the risk of going six matches without a win in all competitions for the first time in five years. He was quoted as saying, “Of course, we are unhappy with the position where we are. The ranking is not lying and it is not good enough. But we are quiet and composed. We stick to the plan and are convinced it will be a success.”