Erik ten Hag is hopeful that the Manchester United board will continue to stick with him if the club goes through difficult moments next season.
The Red Devils boss signed a contract extension last month, shortly after rife speculation that he was set to be fired after the FA Cup final, no matter the result.
United beat Manchester City to win the trophy on the back of their worst-ever finish of eighth in the Premier League.
With a new leadership group in charge, Ten Hag is confident that the team can prove they are competitors when the new season gets underway.
"I feel that we built something and that the people who are around me are in the same boat," Ten Hag said in an extended interview in their pre-season tour in Los Angeles.
"But of course, it's always a proven point when the case is there – but what I hope is that we avoid this [a dip]."
"I feel positive, and I feel very aligned. They [the new owners] are here, we are building those relationships and, as I said, we have to prove this point during the season and the next coming years: how strong we are."
United have already made two signings this transfer window, bringing in Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and Leny Yoro from Lille, though the defender is set to be out for three minutes after suffering a foot injury against Arsenal in a pre-season friendly.
Rasmus Hojlund is also set to be out for six weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in the same game, while Marcus Rashford and Antony were forced off against Real Betis on Thursday.
While Ten Hag did not say the extent of the two injuries suffered, he admitted he was cautious about rushing the players back into action.
"We have to wait," Ten Hag said in a news conference. "Of course, we don't take risks in the last game of the tour going into the season next week already.
"We go into an important game, and we are still 24 hours after a game. The final assessment we have to make, and we will see if they are ready for the game against Liverpool on Saturday."
After a prolific first season under Ten Hag that saw Rashford score 30 goals for the Red Devils in all competitions, he netted just eight last campaign.
Despite the dip in form, the Dutchman has backed Rashford to regain his spark.
"He has to prove his point," the 54-year-old said. "We will set the conditions [give him all the support] and [then] he is very capable of doing this.
"The season before he scored 30 goals, so when he is in the right vibe, then he has such a high potential. And when he is really in that mood, he [can] again score 30 or even more goals."
Lopetegui to assess Fullkrug as focus remains on trusting the process
Julen Lopetegui has refused to rule out Niclas Fullkrug’s involvement when West Ham return to Premier League action against Fulham on Saturday.
Fullkrug, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund during the transfer window, picked up an injury on international duty with Germany during their 5-0 win over Hungary, a game the 31-year-old scored in.
Lopetegui has picked up one win from his first three league fixtures at the helm, but the Spaniard says his side are still in the process of becoming the team he wants them to be.
"Let's see, he has a little problem, it was a pity,” Lopetegui said on Fullkrug. “But it's true that we will evaluate him too, today.
“Yesterday we thought he was a little bit better, today we're going to see how he is exactly and tomorrow we are going to make the last decision about him.
"It's a process, and we have had 10 days here to work with the players. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren't here, so it's not easy, but we've done what we could.
“It's a quick turnaround now to Fulham, but we're putting all our focus on our next match."
Fulham, meanwhile, entered the international break off the back of a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town at Portman Road, with the Cottagers sitting in 12th in the early-season table.
Marco Silva’s new-look squad showed signs during their encounter with the Tractor Boys that they are close to kicking into gear, having taken four points from their first three Premier League games.
While Silva acknowledged his players were forced to adopt a different style of play in their last fixture, he is confident they can continue their unbeaten run on home soil.
"Tough Premier League game, as always, against a side that you know are going to be really hard to play against,” Silva said. “We know it can be tough to play here because last season we played against them in a different competition with great support from the home crowd.
"We were solid in the second half, but not in the way that we like to play, not with that quality in our build up, and it was more difficult for us to create chances.
"It's a game, of course, that we wanted to win, we wanted the three points. We got one point, and we move on to prepare for the next one."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Fulham – Antonee Robinson
Since the start of last season, only Kieran Trippier (10) has more assists among defenders in the Premier League than Fulham’s Robinson (eight).
All eight have come in open play, with only Mohamed Salah (13), Brennan Johnson (10), and Anthony Elanga (nine) having a better 100% open-play assist rate in the division during that time.
West Ham – Jarrod Bowen
Bowen has nine Premier League goals away from home since the start of last season, with only Erling Haaland (16) and Ollie Watkins (10) netting more, while his only goal this term came away at Crystal Palace.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Fulham won both Premier League meetings with West Ham last season by an aggregate score of 7-0. They’ve not won three consecutive league games against the Hammers since between October 1965 and October 1966.
During his time in charge of the Cottagers, Everton and Watford, Silva has more Premier League wins against West Ham than any other side (P9 W6 L3), with the 17 goals his sides have scored against the Hammers in the competition also being his most.
Fulham have also lost only one of their four top-flight games that followed an international break last season (W2 D1), while West Ham lost three of their four such games in 2023-24 (W1).
West Ham’s only win so far in the Premier League this season came away to Crystal Palace (2-0). They last won their opening two away league games of a season in 2015-16 (first three).
The Hammers have also won 16 of their 28 Premier League games against Fulham, their best win rate against any side they’ve faced at least five times in the competition (57%).
But so far this campaign, only Newcastle United (54) have faced more shots in the Premier League this season than West Ham (52), while their expected goals against total of 6.4 is also the second-highest, behind newly promoted Ipswich (6.9).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Fulham – 40%
Draw – 26.2%
West Ham – 33.8%
Miller, Watson bag hat-tricks as Glenmuir hammers Porus High 13-0 in DaCosta Cup
Orel Miller continued his hot scoring form to start the 2024 ISSA/WATA DaCosta Cup season after he notched up a second consecutive hat trick to lead last season’s beaten finalists Glenmuir High to a massive 13-0 trouncing of Porus High in their Zone I game at the Porus Community Centre on Wednesday.
Miller added to his three-timer scored in the team’s opening 5-0 win over Kemps Hill and was joined by Orane Watson who also scored a hat trick on Wednesday.
Dunsting Cohen and Ricardo Binns both scored braces while Nmuemonie Blackwood and Tajaun Cummings got one each with an own goal completing the tally.
Elsewhere in Zone I, Garvey Maceo defeated Vere Technical 1-0 at home.
Two other schools also moved to two wins from two games on Wednesday as Port Antonio High beat St Mary High 4-1 while Holmwood Technical outscored Bellefield High 4-3.
Kerone George scored a brace while Shaquone Hardware and Dwayne Rodgers also scored for Port Antonio High as they took over the lead in Zone M.
Holmwood Technical, who beat Alston High 4-0 in their opening game, outscored Bellefield High 4-3 in their Zone G encounter.
Green Pond High beat Maldon High 2-1 with a second half double from Garth-Dane Bromwell, who netted in the 50th and 65th minutes while Kevin Hawthorne scored a consolation goal for Maldon High in the 76th minute.
Irwin High were held 2-2 at home by St James High also in a Zone A game.
Manning’s School also got off to a positive start in Zone C, beating Black River High 2-0 thanks to goals from Jarvis Meylor and Dainton Williams.
First time quarterfinalists from last season, B.B Coke, opened their season with a 5-1 win over Newell High to take over the lead on goal-difference in Zone E.
The day’s other Zone E game saw Munro College beat Lacovia 1-0 at Lacovia.
Knox College and Paul Bogle High who lost in their opening games, bounced back to beat Alston High and St Thomas Technical 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.
Mateta has 'moved on' after Crystal Palace refused to sell
Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta has no issues with the club's refusal to sell him this past transfer window.
Mateta had a strong second half of the season at Palace, and was a key performer for Oliver Glasner.
The striker subsequently helped France win gold at the Paris Olympics.
Mateta was, however, open to leaving Palace over the summer, though with the club having rejected interest, the 27-year-old is happy to put thoughts on his future to one side.
In an interview with L'Equipe, he said: "I'm a realistic person: the club didn't want to sell me.
"Well, I'm moving on and I'm doing everything so that the team obtains better results than last year. And when it's time to ask ourselves these kinds of questions [about the future], we will ask ourselves.
"In football, you have to adapt quickly, concentrate on the upcoming deadlines and not dwell on the past."
Palace face Leicester City on Saturday, and while the Eagles have only picked up one point from their three Premier League matches so far, Mateta has full confidence Glasner's team are worthy opponents for any team.
He said: "The coach sees, as [France Olympics coach Thierry] Henry did, that I'm trying to pull everyone up, because I work hard, I encourage everyone to do the same and I constantly repeat that we can beat anyone: City, Liverpool… anyone! Anyone!
"I only had a few days of rest between the Olympics final and the resumption of the Premier League, and Glasner asks us to chase the opposing teams high, it's very different from the game we played with France at the Olympics, because we had the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Crystal Palace - Jean-Philippe Mateta
Mateta has made more targeted runs into the box than any other player in the Premier League so far this season (14). However, he is yet to open his account for 2024-25.
Leicester City - Abdul Fatawu
Only Bruno Guimaraes (16) has won more fouls in the Premier League this season than Leicester's Abdul Fatawu (10), seven of which have been following an attempted take-on, more than any other player.
MATCH PREDICTION: CRYSTAL PALACE WIN
Leicester have won just two of their last 16 Premier League games in London (D3 L11), conceding 40 goals during that run (2.5 per game).
The Foxes have only opened the scoring in two of their last 24 Premier League games, conceding first in all three so far this season. Only in 1994-95 and 2001-02 have they conceded the first goal in each of their first four games in a Premier League season, being relegated in both of those campaigns.
Palace have won nine Premier League games against Leicester – against no side have they beaten more times in the competition.
Leicester lost 2-1 the last time they faced Crystal Palace in the Premier League (April 2023), having been unbeaten in their previous seven against the Eagles beforehand (W4 D3).
Since drawing consecutive home games 0-0 in September/October last season, Palace's last 16 at Selhurst Park in the Premier League have seen 59 goals scored (F34 A25, 3.7 per game). Only Chelsea (63) and Manchester City's (60) home games have seen more goals in the competition since the first game in that run.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Crystal Palace - 56.6%
Leicester City - 21%
Draw - 22.4%
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