Ten Hag denies Manchester United has been in crisis this season following Chelsea’s victory

Erik ten Hag dismissed any talk of Manchester United’s season being in trouble, insisting that “we are going in the right direction” following the 2-1 win over Chelsea.

United came into the game at Old Trafford fresh off a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle on Saturday, their tenth defeat in all competitions this season.

After an early penalty saved by Robert Sanchez for Bruno Fernandes, a Scott McTominay brace either side of Cole Palmer’s equalizer gave United a win that moved them up to sixth in the Premier League table, three points behind fourth-placed defending champions Manchester City.

When asked at the post-match press conference what that meant for a season that had felt like it was in crisis, United manager Ten Hag responded, “Crisis? Not for us.

“We keep calm and focus on the process of determining where we need to build.” We’re headed in the right direction.

“We are not distracted by criticism from others, but we are extremely critical of ourselves.” We are never satisfied or happy because we always want to do better. We need to improve significantly if we are to be successful, but this team is capable of doing so.”

Prior to the game, there were reports that Ten Hag had lost the trust of some of his players.

As a result, United barred four media outlets from attending Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, citing a failure to “contact us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge, or contextualise.”

“Last week we played three games (a 3-0 win at Everton, a 3-3 draw at Galatasaray, and the Newcastle match,” Ten Hag explained. We played well twice and then poorly the third time.

“However, you can see that this team is heading in the right direction.” I understand that sometimes you perform poorly, but you can still achieve a result. That is the next step for us to take.

“But you see how we play, how dominating we are in and out of possession. That’s how I want to play. I was very pleased, and the team’s performance was very enjoyable.”

Antony was one of four newcomers to Ten Hag’s starting lineup, having previously stated on YouTube channel The United Stand that he could “see criticism (of him) coming from former club players and other people in the media, who unreasonably express their opinions.”

“This is the attitude he needs, and what he has to contribute to the team,” Ten Hag said of the Brazil winger’s performance against Chelsea, which included winning the penalty. He was very bright, he got very good ball positions, and he made very good decisions. He’s stepping up, and he needs to build on that.”

Ten Hag also praised midfielder McTominay, who now has six goals for United this season after his 19th-minute strike and 69th-minute header, saying, “He has the skills to arrive at the right moment, he has the smell, and then he has a very good finish.”

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino said of his team’s performance, in which they scored late in the first half through Palmer and hit the crossbar twice through Mykhailo Mudryk and substitute Armando Broja: “I’m disappointed because we didn’t start well.”They started better than us, showing more energy than us. We didn’t match their energy. In terms of overall performance, I believe they were superior to us and deserved to win.

“We created enough chances to stay in the game.” We should have been more precise. Overall, I thought they were better than us and deserved the three points.”