Erik ten Hag has dismissed the notion that his team would be apprehensive about facing Manchester City in the upcoming weekend, despite City’s 3-0 victory at Old Trafford in November and their impressive run of 14 wins in their last 15 games across various competitions since mid-December. While Manchester United has experienced a decent run of results, they are dealing with a squad hampered by injuries.
Ten Hag, however, disagreed with the idea that United would have any grounds to “fear” City when questioned during his pre-match press conference.
“They have a good team, but there are more good teams,” replied the Dutchman. “They won everything last season, but we know, and that is the challenge. But also Liverpool is a very good team, and there are more good teams. We like the challenge and are looking forward to challenging them.”
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Ten Hag also declined to comment on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s recent remarks about wanting to “knock City off their perch,” borrowing a famous Sir Alex Ferguson phrase. For the manager, the focus is on winning every game, regardless of the opponent.
“I think that has nothing to do with each other. But we want to win every game,” he explained. “That is always our mentality and our approach in every game. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. But, as I say, you always want to play against the best.
“Most of the time, we feel, and you can also see it, the opposition gets the best outputs against Manchester United. Maybe this game is the other way around, but we know we have to give everything and show a team performance if we want to get the result.”