Erik ten Hag sends emotional and powerful message to fans as he says Old Trafford “needs to be a fortress” after Former Real Madrid coach tipped to replace him

Erik ten Hag sends emotional and powerful message to fans as he says Old Trafford “needs to be a fortress” after Former Real Madrid coach tipped to replace him

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that it is vital Old Trafford is “a fortress” for the club if they are to be successful this season.

The Red Devils were impressive at home in Ten Hag’s first campaign at the helm, only suffering one defeat in the Premier League at Old Trafford last term.

Man United have lost their last two league encounters in front of their own supporters, though, going down 3-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion on September 16 before losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The 20-time English champions have made their worst start to a league season for 34 years, having been beaten in four of their opening seven matches.

The Red Devils now have two more home games in quick succession, with Galatasaray heading to Old Trafford in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, before Brentford visit Manchester next Saturday.

Erik ten Hag says Old Trafford ‘needs to be a fortress’
Ten Hag has said that Man United must become difficult to beat at home once again if they are to be successful, but he played down claims that that the team had become easy to play against at Old Trafford.

“We lost two games [here] in a row in the Premier League now, that is clear, but I wouldn’t set that as a conclusion [right] now,” the Dutchman told reporters during his press conference on Saturday.

“We have to do better that is definitely the case, but we have to show it, even in our body language.

“Old Trafford needs to be a fortress and [we need to show] that you can’t get anything here. The only way other teams do that is if we lose. We have to do better here. The demand is that we get a row of wins to get into a rhythm. We have to do better than we are doing right now.”

Erik ten Hag says Old Trafford ‘needs to be a fortress’
Meanwhile, Ten Hag said that his players must improve their output in the final third of the field.

“I think every occasion is different. Sometimes it’s like calmness and composure, other times it’s be more clinical, other times be more direct. The next time, play the extra pass,” he added.

“As I’ve said, it’s about decision making, the qualities and skillset the players have. There were many occasions, I can’t count them, but we are in the position to put the ball where we want to be.

“I think I repeat myself but we came into the positions and have to make the [correct] decision. Yes, these players can do better. We have more qualities than we showed today.”

Man United will once again be without a number of first-team players against Galatasaray through injury, but Sergio Reguilon could recover from the issue which has seen him miss the last two games against Palace

Zinedine Zidane has been tipped to replace Erik Ten Hag

Zinedine Zidane had been out of a job since leaving Real Madrid for the second time in 2021.

He had hoped to succeed Didier Deschamps in the France job but after les Bleus reached the final of the winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Deschamps’ contract was extended by four years.

Zidane has been linked to Man Utd numerous times in the past but it is widely understood that he has never had any interest in managing the club or moving to England.