READY? SET? NO!
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag says his side are NOT READY for start of new season and admits he has ‘complicated problem’
Ten Hag welcomed two new players into his squad this week
ERIK TEN HAG says his team is not ready for the start of the new campaign after a busy pre-season.
The Manchester United manager has had to juggle late arrivals from major tournaments with new arrivals from other clubs.
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Throw in the usual smattering of injuries and Ten Hag already must feel like he has a major juggling job on his hands.
But he is refusing to hide from the problem as the Red Devils prepare for the Premier League season opener against Fulham at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag said: “It’s true, it’s not the pre-season where in 5-6 weeks work on a team, it’s very complicated.
“We had the USA tour squad and then we added the players from the Euros and Copa America and now new signings and we have to make a team from it.
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“That team is not ready but the league starts and more managers have this problem.
“Still, we have some room, have some principles and we have to make a start. We can’t hide, we have to deal with it.”
Ten Hag wants his team to ride out the opening few weeks of the season while the new players integrate and everyone finds their feet.
Ten Hag said: “At the start of the season don’t drop points, work hard, make sure you are organised in and out of possession.
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“We are not 100 per cent but we have to go from game to game to improve and to get higher performance levels in the team and in individual players.
“We will see how quick we can go with this process.
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“We are now working together for 10 days and always it will take a while.
“There will be more teams who have this problem.”
New signings Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joined the club this week in a combined £80million transfer from Bayern Munich.
The two defenders will go straight into the squad for the game against Fulham while Harry Maguire has been pronounced fit as well.
It is likely De Ligt will start against Fulham alongside Maguire while Lisandro Martinez fills in at full-back again as he did in the Community Shield.
But Mazraoui will be seen soon and Ten Hag is promising a very different type of full-back for the United fans to enjoy.
He said: “In English football there is always pressure on the ball and one of his key attributes is that it’s very difficult to put him under pressure.”
The big problem of course last season was at the other end in front of goal.
No club in the top half of the league scored fewer than United’s 57.
With Rasmus Hojlund out injured for another five weeks attention turns to Joshua Zirkzee.
The manager wants to use the new striker as a substitute for now while he builds up his match fitness after being away in the Euros but playing only four minutes for Holland.
So United go into the new season playing a false nine system as they did in the Community Shield with Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount in the middle of a front four.
Ten Hag said: “We can score more goals, we create many chances and it’s about being clinical. We have to improve.
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"We create so many chances but we have to take them and we have players with scoring abilities enough in the team.
"We have to be more clinical there, more aggressive as well.”
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