"We are on a journey, we keep calm" - Erik ten Hag rubbishes claims of Manchester United crisis after 2-1 Chelsea win
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes his side are going 'in the right direction' and aren't in a 'crisis' after a poor start to the 2023/24 season.
The Red Devils defeated Chelsea 2-1 courtesy of two Scott McTominay goals (19' and 69') in their latest Premier League fixture on Wednesday (December 6). They are currently sixth in the Premier League with 27 points from 15 matches.
Furthermore, Ten Hag's side are last in Group A of the Champions League — nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich. The Manchester side need to defeat the Bavarian outfit in their last group match and hope for a draw in the fixture between Galatasaray and Copenhagen to qualify.
Despite a worrying start to the season, Ten Hag said after his side's win against Chelsea (via Manchester Evening News):
"Crisis? Not for us. We are on a journey, we keep calm, we look to the process, we know where we have to build, we know what we have to build on."
"As I say, we go in the right direction, we don't get distracted by criticism around us. We are very critical of ourselves, we know we are not quickly satisfied and happy, we always want to do things better and if we do things not good we want to put things right and we want to keep going in this process."
He added:
"And we want to keep going in this progress because we know the season is long, we have to improve a lot if we want to be successful but this team is capable of being successful."
No team in the top 13 has scored fewer goals in the league than Manchester United this season. The Red Devils host Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Saturday for their next Premier League fixture (December 9).
Scott McTominay leads Manchester United to 2-1 win against Chelsea
Manchester United put on an entertaining display at Old Trafford, managing to defeat Chelsea 2-1 on Wednesday. Scott McTominay opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Cole Palmer calmly passed the ball into the net from inside the box to equalize at the stroke of half-time.
In the second half, the Scotland international scored a headed winner from Alejandro Garnacho's inswinging delivery (69'). On the night, the Blues enjoyed more of the ball (56%). However, the Red Devils had attempts (28) and registered nine of those on target, compared to their opposition's three shots on target from 13 attempts.
After this result, Mauricio Pochettino's men are placed 10th in the league standings, having mustered just 19 points from 15 matches. They travel to Goodison Park to face Everton on Sunday (December 10).