After Anthony Martial’s subpar performance against Newcastle United over the weekend, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag defended the player.
The French forward was substituted in the 62nd minute of United’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle United, after a lackluster performance that left even manager Ten Hag furious as he was seen yelling at Martial. However, in the face of harsh criticism from all sides, the Dutch manager has defended his player and stated that the team is working hard to improve itself following a disastrous start to the 2023–24 season.
- Thibaut Courtois informed Real Madrid that he would not represent Belgium at the 2024 European Championship since his first priority is fully recovering from an ACL injury.
- Lionel Messi’s ‘tension’ led to a shocking exit suggestion from Lionel Scaloni, as the Inter Miami star ‘agitated’ his management ahead of the World Cup qualifying match against Brazil.
WHAT ERIK TEN HAG SAID
Speaking to reporters ahead of a midweek clash with Chelsea, the Red Devils boss said: “Anthony Martial played brilliantly against Everton. I don’t think it’s fair to point to one player. If you have one moment, you can’t make that as a pattern. The week before we played brilliant, lot of energy in the team, spirt, you see all the games before – I mentioned Fulham, Burnley, Brentford, Luton, so many games for evidence. If it was a pattern, these were different. But this is not a pattern, absolutely not. Everyone is giving their best, there is unity as a team.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The 28-year-old has experienced an underwhelming campaign so far, managing to score just twice in 18 appearances for the club. With both Marcus Rashford and Martial out of form, Ten Hag’s side have been wildly inconsistent. They are on the brink of Champions League elimination and find themselves seventh in the league, 12 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?
The Red Devils have a very busy schedule in December. After the game against Chelsea, Ten Hag’s side will prepare for a home clash with Bournemouth before a must-win Champions League group stage clash with Bayern Munich. Huge domestic games against Liverpool and West Ham will follow before Christmas Day that could go a long way to deciding whether United make the Premier League’s top-four.
