MANCHESTER United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted that he trusts his struggling players to be back to their best, especially Andre Onana and Marcus Rashford, as they get set to host Premier League champions Manchester City at Old Trafford tomorrow.
Although United have won their last three matches in all competitions, they have been unconvincing and still in distant positions in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
Ten Hag believes confidence is growing among his players after tight wins over Brentford and Sheffield United in the Premier League and FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, all by one-goal margins.
“I think that’s definitely [a measure]. You see, we are back where we wanted to be, this is a hard [United] team to beat, and they find a way to win. So, we are going in the right direction,” Ten Hag said during his pre-match press conference yesterday ahead of the Manchester Derby.
“I think it’s a match above many other derbies. It’s so huge because it’s Manchester internally, but it’s also about world football. All the eyes will be on this game globally.”
Although Christian Eriksen said the balance in the performances is still not there and the routines are still missing, Ten Hag insisted United are on the right path.
“I said we are in the right direction, and we have a way to go. I see positives, I see also negatives, which is probably what Christian is referring to,” he added.
“We are not consistently, in possession, on the level where we can be, where we show in games we can be. Like for instance, Arsenal away. Also, the first 30 minutes in Bayern Munich away. But we should do this on a consistent basis. But pressing, we are quite good.
“We have the most ball regains from the whole Premier League, we have the most middle regains from the whole Premier League. So, there you see, our defensive organisation, our pressing organisation. I said before the season how we wanted to play, that is us.
“But then, we don’t take the benefit in the attacking transition moments, and we should be because we have the abilities in our team, the players there who can take benefit from it. We paid some attention to it, and this has to grow, this has to progress. Then games will become easier.
“That is a team that is hard to beat. Sometimes, it’s not the way you want to go but you still have to win and that is what we are doing at this moment.”
Onana, the Cameroon goalkeeper, has had a poor start to his United career since joining from Inter Milan in August, although he made some atonement with a last-minute penalty save in the 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen in midweek.
Ten Hag coached Onana at Ajax and is confident his goalkeeper will recover his best form at United.
“You give him the standards, you give him expectations but then it is about getting to the same level,” the Dutchman said.
“But he has really high expectations from himself and, so, the first thing, you have to find out is if we are talking about the same and we were.
“And from there on, you give him the confidence. Tell him: ‘Look at what you did in the past in great leagues with great clubs, and so you have the abilities and the skills to do it.’ I think the last two games were definitely good progress and now he has to keep this going.
“I mean, it’s very good, but as you know at Man United, good is not good enough. And that not only counts for Andre Onana, that counts for everyone.”
Marcus Rashford scored the winner in the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford last season but has scored only once this term.
Ten Hag believes the England forward will be back firing soon.
He said: “Especially [we have to] give him the trust, I play him every game. Most of the games also he finishes. I have a strong belief he will return to scoring a lot of goals.”
