What is Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold’s stance on the dismissal of Erik Ten Hag in the context of the “red devils” having a difficult start to the season.
Manchester United have lost three of their five Premier League matches this season, while off-field problems continue to blight the Old Trafford side ahead of their trip to Germany to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Manchester United chief executive Richard Arnold spoke to club staff in an extraordinary meeting on Monday (UK time) where the Old Trafford outfit’s confidence in Erik ten Hag was is shown clearly.
Ten Hag’s future is still guaranteed by the MU Board of Directors. PHOTO: GETTY
The Telegraph (UK) reported that Arnold answered questions anonymously via a Zoom call. Accordingly, a difficult question was raised during the meeting which was said to be “not prohibited from raising any issue”. MU’s handling of Mason Greenwood and Antony’s problems was also raised.
While extremely serious off-field issues accounted for the majority of questions, MU’s on-field results and recruitment of players in the summer transfer market were also resolved after three defeats in the Premier League. Five matches in the Premier League caused the “red devils” to fall to the bottom half of the table.
Arnold is said to have reiterated MU’s complete confidence in coach Erik Ten Hag, who helped MU win the Carabao Cup and qualify for the Champions League in his first season at Old Trafford with a third-place Premier League finish . and reached the FA Cup final.
Ten Hag admitted that he felt pressured after MU lost to Brighton at home at Old Trafford. It was MU’s first home loss this season, after two away defeats to Tottenham and Arsenal. More significantly, MU broke its 31-match unbeaten streak at home at Old Trafford under Ten Hag.
Richard Arnold affirmed that MU always believes in Ten Hag. PHOTO: GETTY
MU coach Erik Ten Hag shared: “The pressure is always there. That was last year and this year is no different. Of course, at MU you have to win your matches. We have to improve and I cannot be distracted. The players must stand up. Sometimes you’re in bad times and you have to deal with it.”
MU flew to Germany on Tuesday ahead of their opening Champions League match against Bayern Munich, with Ten Hag admitting that his side face a tough task against the Bundesliga champions.
“I think Bayern Munich are one of the favorites to win the Champions League, so we have to do well there,” said Erik Ten Hag, “But I think I explained what we need there, We need character, faith, resilience, determination, absolutely all of that.”
MU came to Germany with only 21 players, including 4 goalkeepers because the squad was devastated by injuries. 12 MU players were absent for different reasons, including Harry Maguire, Mason Mount and Raphael Varane who were all injured despite participating in Tuesday’s training session. Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Aaron Wan-Bissaka are also not named due to ιnjury.
Ten Hag directed MU’s training session before the match with Bayern Munich. PHOTO: GETTY
MU will face Harry Kane in Munich after many seasons of wanting to sign him without success. Harry Kane said: “I don’t know when is the perfect time to meet MU, because you can get a big reaction from teams that are going through a difficult period, but of course we also have to take full advantage of it. their situation to their advantage.
Bayern Munich needs to step forward with great confidence. We get to play at home in front of our fans. It is important to start the match and really try to put pressure on the opponent. Overall this is a match we want to try to dominate.”
The match between Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the first round of group A Champions League matches will take place at 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, September 21, at the Allianz Arena.