Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag remains calm despite the team’s disappointing start to the season, stating there is nothing “to panic about.”
Several senior sources at the club have informed BBC Sport that preparations continue as normal ahead of crucial matches against Porto and Aston Villa.
Despite a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, which dropped United to 13th in the table, Ten Hag remains optimistic that the season can still be a “success.”
“Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports on Monday.
“We can sort [the problems] out, this team can sort this out.”
United have won just three of their nine fixtures across all competitions in 2023-25, beating Fulham and Southampton in the league and League One Barnsley in the EFL Cup.
Ten Hag led the Red Devils to a third place in the Premier League during his maiden campaign in 2022-23, while they also lifted the EFL Cup and were runners-up in the FA Cup.
Last season United ended the term eighth – their lowest-ever Premier League finish – but signed off in style by beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup.
The Dutchman was subsequently rewarded with a new contract, which runs until 2026, over the summer and last month club chief executive Omar Berrada said he had the club’s full backing.
“We created a togetherness in the summer with the ownership and the leadership,” Ten Hag said.
“We made this agreement, and we were all behind it. We know the strategy [is to bring in] young players in a transition period.
“They also know in May in all my last six seasons there were always trophies and that is what we are aiming for.”
During his tenure at Ajax, Erik ten Hag secured three Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, and one Johan Cruyff Shield.
Manchester United are set to face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, followed by a Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday, just before the October international break.
‘Stick to the plan’
Following a successful conclusion to last season, Ten Hag received support in the transfer market over the summer, bringing in Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, and Manuel Ugarte to strengthen the squad.
However, their performances since then have fallen short of expectations.
United has managed only five goals in their first six matches—only in the 2007-08 season did they score fewer at this point in the campaign.
Additionally, they have suffered consecutive Premier League losses at Old Trafford without finding the net, marking the first time this has happened since November 2021, during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final two home games before his dismissal.
“If you lose your faith, you lose everything,” Ten Hag said. “We have to keep going and stick to the plan.
“For a long period, we are in transition at Manchester United. From the moment I came in, we knew we had to change. We had to replace some older players.
“Our choice was to bring young players in and that takes time to get the messages on board, to get a game model on board and to introduce a new culture. That takes time.”
Ten Hag ‘lacks fire and passion’
The coaching staff also saw changes during the off-season, with former Red Devils striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake joining the team to succeed Steve McClaren, Benni McCarthy, and Mitchell van der Gaag.
McCarthy, a former Blackburn striker who worked alongside Ten Hag for two years at Old Trafford, left to focus on his own managerial career this summer and has since expressed criticism of the Dutchman’s coaching methods.
“In modern football, I believe that players want to see a bit more passion in their coach,” McCarthy, speaking to Portuguese website Zerozero, said of Ten Hag.
“They need to feel that the coach is with them and willing to fight alongside them.
“Tactically, I feel that Erik is at the top. He lacks a bit of that fire, that passion. That’s where we differ, him and I.”