Under-fire Erik ten Hag is convinced he retains the backing of Manchester United’s players after the club were angered by reports he had lost some of the dressing room.
The Dutchman’s challenging second campaign in charge continued on Saturday night, when a lifeless display saw the Red Devils fall to a meek 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.
A 10th defeat of the season led to some reports that Ten Hag had lost the confidence of up to half of his players, with concerns over his style, tactics and signings mentioned.
Those reports led to the club banning four media outlets shortly before Tuesday’s press conference nominally set up to preview the midweek Premier League clash against Chelsea.
United said the action was taken for not “contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise”, adding they believed it was “an important principle to defend”.
Asked if he believed he still had the requisite buy-in from his players to be successful, Ten Hag said: “Oh yes, I’m sure.
“But you can see, for instance, the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, so every time the team is there, showed great character.
“Great determination, resilient, so yeah, we are together.
“And you can see you can’t play such great football what we did lately if there is no unity.”
Ten Hag downplayed Newcastle as “one bad performance” after the 3-0 league win at Everton and the 3-3 Champions League draw at Galatasaray, and addressed the bans handed out to journalists.
“They should come to us first and not go around our back printing articles,” the United manager said. “That’s not the right thing.
“I think we have another relationship, and then they should give that to us beforehand. We have a normal and professional discussion and debate about it.”
Pushed on whether he was concerned there was truth behind reports of player unhappiness, the United manager said: “No.
“Of course there are always in every team players who are less playing, who are less happy, but not different as normal.
“You have to wait for their chance and that can come, but, no, there are no issues.”
There were no questions in the press conference about Wednesday’s match against Chelsea, who are managed by Mauricio Pochettino – the man considered Ten Hag’s main rival for the Old Trafford post in 2022.
The former Ajax boss quickly oversaw improvements on and off the pitch at United, but this season there has been criticism about the manager’s approach.
“I listen always to my players,” the Dutchman said. “And I give them always the opportunities to tell (me). If the players have a different opinion, of course I will listen.
“But they haven’t told me, or maybe one or two (have), but it’s about in general, so the majority, they want to play like this – proactive, dynamic, brave. That is what they want.
“You can see the players are behind it because of the performances against Everton, Galatasaray, and we are really improving.
“Do you think that you can make a goal like we did against Everton if the players didn’t embrace it? What do you think?”
But there were few signs of that progress at St James’ Park, leading Ten Hag to say that playing three big away games in six days hurt a group that are “not robots”.
The United boss certainly came out fighting ahead facing Chelsea and dismissed suggestions that the banning of reporters suggested disorder around the club.
“But not in the dressing room,” Ten Hag said. “Of course, there are a lot of rumours about strategic review but it’s not that we get distracted from it.
“We are on a journey, on the route. We know we are still in transition, but we are in the right direction, and you see it.
“Like how we construct a team, how we develop the team, how the team is progressing, how young players coming in, you see the potential how they can contribute to a very successful Manchester United for the future.”
Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump
Erling Haaland has "full trust" in the "best manager in the world", Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Guardiola's side have lost four matches in a row across all competitions, which is the Spaniard's longest losing run in his entire managerial career.
The Citizens last lost more consecutively between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – the fifth game of which was also against Tottenham).
But after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension at the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on returning to winning ways on home soil.
And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola at City, believes they can make up the gap to leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead.
"When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.
"[Guardiola] demands us to be at our best in every training session, in every game. And that's what we need to do. It hasn't been good enough, losing four games now, but let's try to win the next."
Arsenal handed another injury blow as White ruled out for 'months'
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal defender Ben White is facing "months" on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury.
White had been dealing with several issues all season and has missed five games in all competitions for the Gunners already this term.
After struggling through until the November international break, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
It serves as a bitter blow for Arteta, with only Thomas Parety (13) making more interceptions than White (11) for Arsenal in the Premier League this campaign.
Though Arteta confirmed that the surgery was successful, White is set for a lengthy spell out of the team.
"It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately," said Arteta.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
"He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months."
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: "We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."
It offers a concern for Arteta in the full-back area, with the Spaniard also revealing on Friday that Takehiro Tomiyasu is "going to be out as well for a bit".
There was, however, some positive injury news for the Gunners ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on Saturday.
After not featuring for England during the international break, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be fit to feature against Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Leandro Trossard will also be available for Arteta despite picking up a hamstring injury during the international break with Belgium.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in contention for Saturday's game after a month out with a knee problem.
Conte hopes for Ranieri's success at Roma after Napoli clash
Antonio Conte hopes that everything will go well for Claudio Ranieri after he came out of retirement to take charge of Roma, but only after their Serie A clash this weekend.
Ranieri was tempted back into management by a return to where he began as a player. His third spell at Roma comes after the club sacked two coaches already this season and with the team 12th in the standings.
A trip to leaders Napoli is Ranieri's first task, and Conte is looking forward to meeting up with the 73-year-old.
"I am pleased to see Claudio, I have great esteem for him and there is also friendship," Conte told reporters ahead of Sunday's game.
"I am happy with the chance he has been given. It will be a tough game, for us and for them. Last year, Roma finished ahead of Napoli, they are in the Europa League and had a good transfer window.
"They are not performing according to expectations and I hope for Claudio that everything starts to work after Sunday's game."
The arrival of Ranieri in place of Ivan Juric brings with it not just the danger of the 'new manager bounce' but also upsets Conte's plans for the game.
"When a team changes coach there is an important input on a nervous level," Conte said.
"They are at the third change on the bench. It's inevitable that, if Juric had remained, we knew what kind of team we were going to face.
"Now it's an enigma, we don't have much information nor do we know how they will deal with us. So let's think about ourselves, there is a desire and enthusiasm to continue this path."
After a streak of 21 consecutive home wins in Serie A, Conte lost his last home league match (0-3 against Atalanta). Only once in his career has he recorded two consecutive home defeats in the competition: in November 2009, when he was in charge of Atalanta (against Juventus and Roma).
Napoli are top of the table, but Conte knows it is still early, and with just two points separating the top six clubs, which includes the likes of Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio, for now, it is a different title race than usual.
"Only 12 games have passed and there are many teams within very few points," he said.
"We are doing well, but so are the others. There isn't one team which has distanced the others. Perhaps there is a little amazement in seeing some teams in those positions in the standings."
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