After victory over Aston Villa on Thursday night, Erik ten Hag spoke to the media after the game to preview United’s Premier League fixture away to Fulham on Sunday.
The game against Fulham will be Man United’s final fixture before the World Cup, and the team will be hoping to go into that fixture with a win to keep up their quest for a top 4 finish.
Fulham have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League in recent times as they currently sit ninth in the table and narrowly lost to Manchester City last Saturday. They will certainly be no pushovers, which is something that ten Hag agrees with as he is expecting a difficult encounter.
“That is going to be a really tough game. I think in the Premier League everything is very close, and what I have seen from Fulham so far is really energetic. They also play really decent football out from the back – I remember the game against Liverpool at the start of the season. So you have to be really good there to get a result. We have to do everything in our power to get the right result – that is what we’re preparing [for] now.”
One player that is in contention to start the game is Anthony Martial. The United number 9 started and scored in United’s 4-2 victory over Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup and even though Martial only played for an hour last night, it is evidently clear that he is a more effective striker for ten Hag’s style of play. After the game the manager was asked just how important is it for Martial to stay fit if United want to win games,
“Yes, definitely. In the front line, availability from the players is a concern. We had so many games like Newcastle United: Marcus Rashford, ill. We had to play some other games, we really had to improvise to construct a proper offensive line. So, if we can’t do that, then it is really difficult to get into the top four.”
Donny van de Beek started the game against Aston Villa, however, it could be argued that he struggled to get himself in the game as a statistic from [WhoScored] via UtdReport showed that van de Beek only completed 7 passes in the first-half. However, the Dutchman’s positioning and movements on the pitch is decent, but if he wants to maintain his future in the United starting line-up, then he will need to add more goal contributions to his game, just like Bruno Fernandes is doing.
Martin Dübravka (8) completed more passes than Donny van de Beek (7) in the first-half against Aston Villa [@WhoScored]
— utdreport (@utdreport) November 10, 2022
Speaking post-match, this is something that ten Hag stressed that the Dutchman needs to improve his numbers.
“If we have the romantic idea from the no.10 who is the playmaker, giving the final passes, if they have to play in the middle of the park that is really difficult there, because nowadays all the good teams close the middle of the park. So it is really difficult to get a lot of ball touches. That is not the player Donny van de Beek is, but what he is doing well is his positioning and his movements into space with strikers, especially with that no.9. That combination is really good, positioning and anticipation in and out of possession, and he did it to my satisfaction in the last games. But I have seen he is not on the scoring list, he is not on the assisting list, and he can do better. I think he’s still not there on his limits. I have seen him better in the past. But I think positioning-wise, he is acting quite well. But he has to make that step up.”
