Erik ten Hag spoke to the club’s official media team [manutd.com] in an interview with Danny Webber and he gave his thoughts on the World Cup taking place in Qatar.
With United not in competitive action until the 21st December, this break has given ten Hag the opportunity to sit down and reflect with his coaching staff on the first few months of the season, as well as allow him to watch the World Cup action.
There have been plenty of United players on show at the World Cup, and ten Hag revealed that he is keeping in constant communication with his players. He also said that he is enjoying the competition because the best players are going head-to-head against each other, including the United contingent.
Coming up in part one of our latest sit-down with the boss 💬
▪️ Aims for the training camp 🎯
▪️ Previewing both our friendlies 🇪🇸
▪️ A review of the #WorldCup 🏆#MUFC— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 6, 2022
“All the top players are there so it’s really nice to watch that and of course a lot of our players are there, in different teams, so I watch [the World Cup] a lot,” the manager told MUTV.
“I follow them all and try to keep in touch with them. I’m really happy with their performances and that’s a good message to our team.
“It’s motivation to work, because we have top-class players.
“Now it’s about getting the best team. We want to achieve something this season.”
The United manager’s nation, Holland are doing well in the tournament as they reached the quarter final stage of football’s biggest competition and will now face Argentina for a place in the semi finals. However, it is not just the Netherlands that has caught his eye, he has also been impressed by the other nations.
“Of course, when Holland is playing I have a connection with a lot of members of the Dutch squad, with the players in particular, but also with the staff members.
“You follow your country but I can also enjoy England, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, where our other players are.”
United and ten Hag are currently out in Spain preparing for the resumption of the season after the World Cup, in order to boost the non-World Cup players’ fitness levels and the team are in action today against Cadiz, which kicks off at 7pm UK time.
Current status: relaxed and ready for our next test 👊🇪🇸#MUFC pic.twitter.com/UWh0rhkGEt
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 7, 2022