Tellingly, new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has declined to publicly back Ten Hag, fuelling speculation that the British billionaire wants a change at the helm. But in his pre-match press conference ahead of what is potentially a season defining FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, the 54-year-old came out swinging after being pressed on Ratcliffe’s silence.
“I’m here, I’m under contract for three seasons, so I don’t care,” he said. “I am in this process, I’m only focusing on the process, so I don’t care what’s going on around me.
“I have had many talks with Sir Jim Radcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group. So I know where we are talking about and I have a strong belief and I feel that they believe in me.”
The ex-Ajax man also insisted that he wasn’t preoccupied with rumours or even his own role, but instead was fully committed to ensuring his side get results in the remainder of the 2023/24 season. “I’m not focusing on my personal circumstances” he added.
“I’m just focusing on the team and I have to find solutions for this team so that they perform the best way they can. It’s all about focusing on that and not getting distracted by any noise. I know what I’m doing. Consistently, we have had talks and we’re talking about the future together.”
Ten Hag also fired back at Sky pundit Jamie Carragher, who on Monday Night Football this week, outlined the defensive failings he believed were plaguing United’s form. He also argued that the system employed by the manager was heavily contributing to the problems.
Labelling Carragher a “subjective” pundit, he implied the performance against Fulham, where the hosts were undone by Alex Iwobi’s 97th minute winner, was a one-off. Ten Hag did however, concede that his side’s levels must go up at the City Ground.
“Footballers are not robots, sometimes they have bad days,” he said, after admitting he “wasn’t pleased” with the defensive perofrmance. “It was unacceptable and we have to do better tomorrow.”
