Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes the goalscoring prowess is the missing puzzle behind the English giants’ miserable start of the season.
The frustration just keeps piling up for the Dutchman who in his third campaign at Old Trafford is struggling to bring out a true identity for his side. The mid-week United draw 1-1 draw at home to lowly-ranked FC Twente Europa League opener is something to be forgotten.
That result was the follow-up of a goalless draw at Crystal Palace in the Premier League last weekend.
Having made a promising start against Twente, United just could not capitalize on the dominance. Ten Hag’s former club went behind with a Christian Eriksen strike in the first half, but the second half saw Sam Lammers seal the game in the 68th minute to grab a point.
Manchester United had 18 attempts on goal against Twente while failing to find the net with 15 shots at Selhurst Park. This is the current condition of Ten Hag’s side who are still discovering plans ahead of welcoming Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Ten Hag’s point
On Thursday the 54-year-old said at a pre-match press conference: “Not scoring goals, not scoring goals enough. That’s the problem, the key area.”
“We have to score more goals as a team. I think we have players across the team who have the ability to score. That’s clear.
“You see all the opportunities we are creating, we are not scoring enough.”
However United returned from the international break in dashing fashion with a 3-0 win against Southampton and a comprehensive 7-0 League Cup humiliation of third-tier Barnsley.
The above results, along with the Premier League opening day victory over Fulham are the only wins in eight matches across all competitions so far this season. While Ten Hag is saying it’s too early to make a judgment, seems more like a way to show his belief in front of the mike.
“Still we are working, we are in progress,” he said. “We have to sign players. We also made a choice to sign very young players.
“Like last year (Rasmus) Hojlund, like this year (Joshua) Zirkzee and Leny Yoro — players we believe in them in this moment but also for the future. We have to build them.”
Also adding: “Now we have to work with the squad and that takes time and of course I am also — it’s not a good behaviour from me — impatient and I want to go straight forward.”
“But also, to be fair, we had success in the last two seasons (winning the 2023 League Cup and 2024 FA Cup) and we have to work very hard to bring another success.”
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