Erik ten Hag responds as Pep Guardiola claims Manchester United could be potential title challengers
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has responded to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola's claims regarding the Red Devils' potential Premier League title challenge.
United secured a 1-0 win against West Ham United on Sunday and find themselves fifth in the table right now.
With 23 points in 12 games, they are now eight points behind league leaders Arsenal and six behind reigning champions Manchester City.
Following Manchester United's win against West Ham United, Ten Hag responded to Guardiola's remarks.
The Dutchman insists that while he regards Guardiola's comments as a compliment, his side still have plenty of room for improvement.
The Manchester United boss has also highlighted the areas where he wants his side to improve. He said (as quoted by The Manchester Evening News):
"It's a nice compliment. But I also see a lot of room for improvement in our game and we have to if we want to compete for the top four positions, we have to improve.
Lisandro Martinez is putting together a season to remember for United 💪
A wall in the back 🧱 https://t.co/GeTnJ8HUGt
"For instance, the first-half we have to dominate more on the ball, to bring ourselves in better positions between the lines.
"Second-half, definitely, we were quite poor in possession, there was a lot of space on the pitch, we give away the ball too easily, many wrong decisions, we go direct for goal instead of keeping the ball."
Ten Hag has claimed that he saw some positives and some negatives in his side's game against West Ham and is looking to address those. He added:
"You have to outplay them when you get so much space, you have to make that second goal and then games are much easier. But it's a skill for a team to protect your box, and survive an opponent who will come and go for an equaliser, definitely, that is a skill.
"There are some positives still but a lot of negatives in our game. We analyse that and have to work on that."
Manchester United keeper David de Gea silenced his critics with a wonderful display against West Ham
Manchester United keeper David de Gea came up with an outstanding goalkeeping display against West Ham United on Sunday.
The Spanish international was decisive in the second half to ensure that the Red Devils held onto their 1-0 lead.
🏼David De Gea. Unbelievable 👏🏼
De Gea made four saves and one punch and his incredible save off Kurt Zouma's header was the highlight of the night.
Last week, the Manchester United number one was left out of Spain's provisional 55-man World Cup squad by Luis Enrique.
And following his exceptional display against West Ham, the Spain boss could regret his decision.