Sports
Manchester United show full backing to Ten Hag despite Liverpool loss
Manchester, Sep 3
Manchester United's football leadership team has reiterated their support for manager Erik ten Hag despite the ricky start to the Premier League season.
United have lost two of their opening three Premier League games; they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton followed by their 3-0 loss to Liverpool, which dropped Ten hag's side to 14th in the Premier League table, with three points from their opening three games.
Ten Hag survived an end-of-season review after United recorded their lowest finishing position of the Premier League era and a group stage exit from the Champions League.
However, United finished the season by securing FA Cup glory - a second trophy under the Dutchman and choice was made to stick with Ten Hag and he was given a one-year extension in his contract.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth addressed the situation in a recent press conference at Old Trafford and offered their full support to Ten Hag.
"In terms of the contract, that was a decision that was taken prior to both of our arrivals. But we're very happy with that decision. Erik has our full backing and we have worked very closely together, as Dan has said before, in this transfer window."
"We're going to continue working very closely with him to help him get the best results out of the team. Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we're fully backing him," he said.
Ashworth added, "Very rarely do you go into a job as a sporting director and there's no manager in place. All I can do is reiterate I've really enjoyed working with Erik for the last eight weeks.
"I see my job is to support him in every way I possibly can, and whether that's operationally, whether that's with recruitment, whether that's with medical, whether that's with psychology, whether that's training ground flow, it's just to take as much of that off him to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United."