Erik ten Hag says he has decided to “ignore” Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham last month as he prepares to reinstate Bruno Fernandes following the playmaker’s first suspension of the season.
Fernandes, who missed United’s 1-1 Europa League draw at Fenerbahce on Thursday because he was dismissed for two yellow cards in their 3-3 draw at Porto, was shown a straight red card for a foul on James Maddison three minutes before half-time against Spurs, who were 1-0 ahead at the time and scored twice more without reply after half-time.
The Portugal midfielder avoided a three-match suspension when the decision was subsequently overturned following a subsequent appeal, proceeding to help United draw 0-0 at Aston Villa and come back to beat Brentford 2-1 at home in the Premier League since then.
“When you take two points at Porto and Fenerbahçe away, it shows we are a team that’s hard to beat.”
Erik ten Hag is taking positives from Man United’s start in the Europe League 📈
🎙 @DannyJamieson pic.twitter.com/0a4eL8maKk
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 24, 2024
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Bruno Fernandes: United ‘injustice’
“It was a sending-off of one our best players, our captain, and it was overturned,” said Ten Hag. “Everyone agreed it was not the right decision.
“It was an injustice and it would also be an injustice to assess the team on their performance. It was a tough first half but I remember we had some very good chances.
“I ignore that game against Spurs because we were downsized to ten men with a 1-0 losing position. I totally ignore that game.
“It is not a fair assessment to the team to take it into consideration, because we didn’t have a chance to bounce back. You see this team is resilient and determined.”
Ten Hag was the odds-on favourite with bookmakers to become the first top-flight manager to be sacked this season following the result, with the likes of former United skipper Gary Neville calling their first-half display “absolutely disgusting” and adding: “It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag. And that is saying something.”
🔴🇪🇺 3 points in 3 Europa League games for Man United. 5 goals scored and 5 conceded.
1 win in the last 11 European games for Manchester United.
1 win in the last 7 games in all competitions this season. pic.twitter.com/oCEVUxpl5b
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 24, 2024
Man United injuries vs West Ham
United are 12th and closer to the bottom five than the top five before they take on sixth-bottom West Ham at London Stadium on Sunday (2pm BST).
Speaking after United played in Istanbul, Ten Hag said he did not know the extent of an injury to winger Antony, while centre-back Harry Maguire and midfielders Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount are not expected to return against the Hammers.
Defenders Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro are yet to play this season, and Ten Hag reiterated his frequent assertion that absentees are costing his side.
“That is what’s holding us back at the moment,” he said. “We need more players often available. The players, coaching staff and all the other staff have to do better to get more available players.
“We know that when we have them, we are a very tough team to play and we can be very successful. We have shown that over the last couple of months.”
