Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has denied claims of dressing room unrest following a swathe of reports that led to several journalists being barred from Tuesday’s press conference.
Allegations emerged in the wake of defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday night that Ten Hag was starting to lose the dressing room, with players said to be questioning his tactics and signings.
It resulted in four journalists from Sky Sports, Manchester Evening News, the Daily Mirror and ESPN being denied access to Ten Hag’s media conference ahead of Wednesday night’s crunch Premier League fixture against Chelsea – United claimed it was not attempted censorship but a response to not being offered a chance to “comment, challenge or contextualise” prior to publishing.
The Dutchman refuted the reports when those who were allowed in broached the subject.
“Of course, in every team there are always players who are not playing, or playing less, who are less happy. In some circumstances you need that, they have to wait for their chance. But no, there are no issues,” Ten Hag responded.
Denying that players are pushing back against him, the United boss went on to cite recent fluid attacking performances against Everton, a 3-0 win, and Galatasaray, a 3-3 draw due to defensive errors, as his version of proof that most are buying into his methods and philosophy.
Smaller than usual press corp expected today. pic.twitter.com/TeV228OSAl
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) December 5, 2023
“I always listen to my players and I always give them opportunities to tell, if the players have a different opinion of course I will listen,” he said.
“But they haven’t told me…or maybe one or two. 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.
“Do you think we can [score] the goals we did against Everton if the players don’t embrace it? I am sure [they do]. You can see the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game. You can see you can’t play such great football as we did lately if there is no unity.”
90min understands that Ten Hag currently has the full backing of United’s hierarchy and incoming minority investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with those in power focused on installing stability and altering the club’s approach to transfer dealings.
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