Man Utd still fighting for Champions League - Ten Hag

Manchester United suffered defeat in 11 Premier League matches throughout this season.

Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, is determined to secure a spot in the Champions League despite their 11-point deficit from the fourth-placed team Aston Villa, with only 11 games remaining in the season.

The recently acquired co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has voiced his determination to clinch a spot in the most prestigious European competition this season.

Following Manchester United's 3-1 loss against Manchester City, they are in need of Aston Villa experiencing a significant setback or for the Premier League to have five spots available in the expanded competition in order to have a chance to progress.

Despite this, Manchester United will still require Tottenham, who are currently in fifth place, to not succeed because Ange Postecoglou's team is ahead by six points and also has an additional unplayed game.

According to Ten Hag, we need to act promptly and participate in another final, striving towards closing the gap between us and them.

There's a positive aspect to the fifth position because it offers a chance to qualify for the Champions League. Therefore, we must put in the effort and secure victories in our matches.

The mission of United is made more difficult because they have already played against Villa and Tottenham two times. However, these two teams will compete against each other at Villa Park next Sunday which may give United some advantage.

'Almost Won: Our Journey'

If the Premier League clubs do well in all three European competitions and secure one of Uefa's 'Performance Slots' by finishing in the top two, England will be awarded an additional fifth place in the Champions League.

At this moment, Italy and Germany are occupying the top spots, while England holds the third position. Thus, for United to have a chance, they have to rely on their traditional foes City and Liverpool, along with other teams, to advance, and for clubs from Serie A and the Bundesliga to be eliminated.

Nevertheless, United is also required to surpass Villa or Tottenham, which appears improbable based on the current scenario.

Even though Marcus Rashford scored an amazing goal that gave them an early lead, Ten Hag's team only had possession of the ball for 26% of the game and tried to shoot the ball only three times. This is only the second time since 2003 that they have had less possession of the ball and tried to shoot the ball less, with the first time being against Liverpool in April 2022 during the last few weeks of Ralf Rangnick's unsuccessful tenure when they lost 4-0.

As a result, City permitted 27 attempts on goal from United. This means that United has been subjected to a total of 444 goal tries throughout the season, corresponding to an average of 16.4 per match. The only clubs who have allowed more attempts than United are West Ham, Luton, and Sheffield United, with average rates of 16.9, 16.9, and 17.2 respectively.

United lost their eleventh game in the Premier League, which was only one game less than their worst performance in both 2022 and 2013-14 when David Moyes was dismissed from his position.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the new director, observed the match and this does not seem to boost Ten Hag's position as the manager. Even though the Dutchman believed his team performed admirably.

He expressed that football is more than keeping the ball. Although having the ball is important to score, but we had a significant number of openings in the initial 20 minutes and demonstrated excellent defense even without the ball.

During crucial moments, luck was not in our favor as Rashford was close to scoring another goal while Garnacho was also on the verge of a goal just before the opponent scored the winning point. However, we came really close to winning or at least tying the game.

Ten Hag In The Limelight

Just like the previous loss at home to Fulham a week ago, where he argued that United played better, Ten Hag's opinion is not shared by everyone.

It is possible that they might disagree with Ten Hag's belief that his team should've received a free-kick when Kyle Walker fouled Rashford just before the counter-attack, which resulted in Foden's goal.

He explained that even though it felt gentle, if you are sprinting at maximum speed and make slight contact with it, you lose all control.

Ten Hag faces a harsh reality as his future rests in the hands of Brailsford, Ratcliffe, and maybe even Dan Ashworth. The outcome will be determined based on whether or not United can finalize an agreement with Newcastle for their sports director to start working soon.

Gary Neville, who used to be captain of Manchester United, said on Sky Sports that the choice may have already been made.

In the upcoming month, Manchester United has important matches to play, including games against Liverpool in both the league and FA Cup, as well as a visit to Chelsea. Additionally, they will face Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday. Given these challenges, it is possible that we may see some important developments in the team's performance soon.

Ten Hag still praises his team.

When asked if the game was a sign of the distance between United and City, he responded with a negative answer. He confidently stated that there was no way that it served as any kind of reminder or indication of a divide between the two teams.

It's evident that our team is facing various injury issues, but despite that, we still managed to have a chance. Although the opportunity may not be significant, we believe that once everyone is fit and playing, we can perform well against our competitors.

At present, City happens to be the top-performing team across the globe. It's essential to keep this fact in mind.