ERIK ten Hag has refused to make any excuses for Manchester United’s embarrassing slump in form as they prepare to face Burnley in the Premier League tonight.
The Red Devils have lost their last three games in a row in all competitions, including a home loss to Brighton last Saturday and Wednesday night’s UEFA Champions League reverse at Bayern Munich.
The Dutchman and his players have a shot at redemption tonight at Turf Moor and the former Ajax manager says it is an opportunity they must take against the promoted side who are yet to win any of their opening four Premier League matches.
“As always, it’s about how we play against Burnley,” Ten Hag said during his pre-match press conference yesterday when asked what he expected from Vincent Kompany’s side
“There is never any easy game and definitely not against Burnley, we know how intense they play football, I know their approach.
“I must say, I like the approach from them, the adventure and the high intensity and also the dynamic in their game. So, yeah, we have to play our best.”
While many of the fans have blamed new goalkeeper Andre Onana and the midfielders for United’s poor defensive record this season, Ten Hag insists it everybody’s responsibility to stop the rot.
“It’s about 11 players who do their job. As I said many times, here in this place and I tell my players,” he explained.
“We attack with 11, we defend with 11. When one or two are not doing the job, it’s like a pack of cards and then it is not only one or two players.”
United have conceded a whopping 14 goals in just six games in all competitions this season and a number of reasons have been given, including the takeover talks, injuries and disciplinary issues.
However, Ten Hag admits that his side should be doing better even with all of the problems they have.
“I already explained, reasons will be excuses, so there are no excuses. We have to perform,” he said.
Ten Hag also clarified that Jadon Sancho would not be back in the squad anytime soon after the forward was suspended for disciplinary reasons following his disrespectful social media post denying the manager’s claims about his being poor in training.
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