‘We have to fight’ - Erik ten Hag sends defiant message ahead of Man Utd vs Brentford clash

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said he and his players must show fight and band together if they’re to come through the current bad run of form.

The Red Devils head into Saturday’s Premier League encounter against Brentford on the back of five defeats in seven, including three loss the last five home matches. It’s led to increasing pressure on the United camp, and even some suggestions that Ten Hag’s position might be under threat.

But the Dutchman looks far from a beaten man and gave a several passionate responses in Friday’s pre-match press conference, where he claimed the team’s aim should still be to win every game.

“We have to deal with it [the spotlight],” Ten Hag said. “It doesn’t make any sense to think about it. We have to deal with it. The only way we can do that is through the players, together with the manager and the coaching staff.

“We are in the demand, so don’t think about what’s going around in the surrounding environment. Focus on what it is about, and that is to be a good team, so the foundation is the way of play. When you follow that, you will have a foundation and win games.”

“We know we are still in transition as a club, but in the meantime we know we have to win every game,” he added. “We don’t walk away from that, not this team, not these coaches and not this manager. No, definitely not. We have to win every game, and that is the approach and will be the approach to every game.”

There are already early similarities between Ten Hag’s reign at United and that of his two permanent predecessors, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who experienced initial success before things went awry. Yet the Dutchman insisted on Friday that the Old Trafford hotseat is not an impossible job.

“It is the wrong way [to look at it]. We have to fight,” he said. “There is no club where it never goes down. We are in a bad place, but then you have to fight. Everyone has to realise that we are there and that you have to fight together and be on one page in every occasion.

“The last game was a good example of it. We were for 28 minutes on one page, we scored a goal and then in one split second we are not on one page. It was the first shot the opponent got and it went straight in. You can’t allow it in top football. It is about moments and details, isn’t it? Opponents will always benefit from it, so we can’t allow them the small details.”