Embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said the loss to Tottenham left him ‘mad’ but does not feel he is under any pressure to keep his job.
Ten Hag’s side suffered a chastening 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last Sunday, the club’s third from six Premier League games this season.
It left a sour taste in the Dutchman’s mouth, but he and his players want to use it as fuel to fire them up for Thursday’s clash against Porto in the Europa League.
‘As always when we are not winning, we are very disappointed and we are also mad,’ Ten Hag said.
‘Mad with ourselves and especially when you lose a game like Sunday. From the madness, we have to get motivation and go onto the next game.’
Under-fire United boss Erik ten Hag said the Tottenham defeat left him and his players ‘mad’
Despite being down a man, United barely laid a finger on Tottenham in a 3-0 defeat
The loss to Tottenham last Sunday condemned the side to their third league defeat this season
The loss to Tottenham also sparked speculation Ten Hag would face a fight to keep his job with two big fixtures for United this week.
After the Red Devils’ fixture against Porto, they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday who are riding high after a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.
The trip to Villa Park is also United’s last game before the international break, which looms as an opportune time to make a managerial change should United feel inclined if they cannot achieve results against Porto and Villa.
A report in Italy also claimed former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has the backing of legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson should the club swing the axe on Ten Hag.
However, Ten Hag revealed he had held conversations with United’s leadership team since the Spurs game and doesn’t feel any extra pressure going into the fixture on Thursday night.
‘No, because it’s not important what is external,’ he said. ‘It’s only important what is internal. We are dealing with a defeat and nothing else.
‘We talk every day and we are on a common journey. We made that agreement in the summer. We made our decisions, we refreshed and reset the staff. I appointed my assistants. We refreshed the squad as well.
‘We chose to contract young players. It’s a long-term target. We went in that boat and we will keep going.
Despite the loss to Tottenham, Ten Hag is adamant he is not in a fight to save his job
Ten Hag will lead Manchester United against Porto a crunch Europa League clash on Thursday
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have the final say on Ten Hag’s future as two key matches loom
‘It is not necessary (for them) to give me confidence, but we talk every day about how we can improve.’
Ten Hag will hope a disrupted preparation for the fixture against Porto won’t hamper his side.
United were due to arrive in Portugal at 3pm on Wednesday but landed two-and-a-half hours later.