Erik ten Hag lashes out at ‘fairytales and lies’ over his Manchester United future

Erik ten Hag has angrily insisted it was a “fairytale” and “lies” to suggest his position as Manchester United manager was in doubt as he vowed to succeed in his task of climbing a mountain to take the club back to the heights.

United have not won in their last five matches in all competitions and are only 14th in the Premier League but Ten Hag kept his job after a six-hour meeting of the club’s hierarchy during the international break.

But the Dutchman is adamant that, despite United’s worst start to a Premier League season, they are working together harmoniously as he claimed there is no sense of panic behind the scenes.

“The only noise is coming from some of you guys in the media, bringing up stories, creating fairytales, bringing lies because we are all on one page this club,” he said. “Internally in the club it is quiet.

“Of course, we are discussing the position where we are. We are unhappy with the position we are in and we have to turn to the corner but ultimately we are quiet, we are composed, we stay where we are, we stick to the plan and we are very convinced we will make a success.

“We have to climb a mountain. That is top football. Sometimes you have to face challenges, sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down, I am sure we will make a success as we did in the last two seasons. We are in a direction, underneath I see the good things, good patterns and good stats but of course we are where we are and that is not good enough.”

Ten Hag also confirmed in his pre-Brentford press conference that midfielder Kobbie Mainoo and defender Harry Maguire are both likely to miss five games – including the Europa League trip to Fenerbahce and Premier League matches with the Bees, West Ham and Chelsea – with muscle injuries.

However summer signing Noussair Mazraoui has made a swift recovery from a minor heart procedure last week that he underwent last week after experiencing palpitations in the goalless draw with Aston Villa before the international break.

Ten Hag added: “Kobbie and Harry are out for a couple of weeks. Mazraoui is good news, he returned on the training pitch and is available for selection.”