Erik ten Hag has bizarrely claimed that he ‘denies’ a recent Manchester United defeat due to a refereeing decision.
United are enduring a dire start to the Premier League season under the Dutchman, and sit 12th in the table with just three wins from their first eight games of the campaign.
They have suffered three losses in that time too, which came against Tottenham (3-0), Liverpool (3-0) and Brighton (2-1), while they are yet to win in Europe, meaning they have now gone a whole year without winning in European competition.
Ten Hag, however, has remained defiant, insisting that draws away to Porto and Fenerbahce in the Europa League have been solid results despite his side throwing away leads in both games.
And now, he has explained how he has essentially written off his team’s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham on November 29, pointing towards the red card captain Bruno Fernandes received.
Erik ten Hag has bizarrely claimed that he ‘denies’ Manchester United’s defeat by Tottenham
The Dutchman oversaw a 3-0 loss at Old Trafford in September in his side’s dire start to the season
Spurs ran riot as they won 3-0, playing against 10 men for the majority of the fixture
‘I deny and ignore the game against Spurs because we were down to 10 at 1-0,’ he said. ‘Then the red card was overturned, so I totally ignore that game.
‘That is not a fair assessment to the team to take this into consideration, because we didn’t have the chance to bounce back.
‘You see this team is resilient. The team is determined. Brentford, two tough away games in Europe – this team has character and shows fighting spirit and determination to win games.’
United were second best for much of the game on September 29, going 1-0 down through a goal from Brennan Johnson in the third minute of the tie before Fernandes was shown red on the back of a foul on James Maddison.
Tottenham then seized full control, adding a second and third thorough Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke respectively as pressure continued to increase on Ten Hag amid the Red Devils’ worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
After appeal on the call to send Fernandes off, however, the red card was rescinded and he was made available for selection for the next game.
He was, meanwhile, sent off in the Europa League a game later.
Bruno Fernandes was sent off in the first half of the game – a decision that was later overturned
Ten Hag said he ‘totally ignores’ the game due to his captain’s red card being overturned
United currently have just one win in their last seven matches, which came against Brentford at Old Trafford last week when they recovered from going 1-0 down.
They will take on West Ham on Sunday as Ten Hag looks to continue to ease pressure on his role following the 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce on Thursday.
