Erik ten Hag believes he could have won as many as 75 of his first 100 games as Manchester United boss if it weren’t for an injury list that he says no team could cope with.
It’s been a poor second season under pressure for the Dutchman, who suffered a 3-1 defeat to rivals Manchester City last weekend as he completed 100 games in charge.
Ten Hag had to field a patched-up team against the Premier League champions, with absentees Cheap Manchester United football jerseys will again be without many first-team players in Saturday’s clash with relegation-fighting Everton.
Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans were declared fit to play after coming off the field in the Manchester derby, but Omari Forson joined the long list of injured players ahead of the weekend.
“It’s good news, (Rashford and Evans) have recovered from the derby, so they are available,” – The Ten Hag boss said.
“As for the rest, the lineup is the same, except for Omari Forson. He is out of the game. He has an injury,” he said.
“Mason Mount, I think, is now in good shape and will be back soon. I think after the international break,” he said.
“Next week some players are planning to come back, hopefully.
“When the process continues as it is now, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, I expect them to be available for our match against Liverpool. (Rasmus) Hojlund similarly, yes.”
Defeat in next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Liverpool will end the final road Manchester United Kids Kit T-Shirt soccer team to win silver medals this season.
Ten Hag won the Carabao Cup in his first campaign and led the team to third place in the Premier League – a far cry from their current sixth place, 11 points off fourth-placed Aston Villa with 11 games to go.
Injuries have played a key role this season, and the Dutchman believes he would have won far more than 61 of his first 100 games without them.
“This shows that we are heading in the right direction,” Ten Hag said of his win ratio.
“Imagine if we had a lot more players available, and not so many injuries, we could easily have 70 or 75 wins, and that speaks to the bright future of this team when the players are available.
“Because if you compare it to other managers or other teams that were in the building stages, or previous managers at this big club, you can see that there is a bright future.
“I also think it’s a good age balance in this squad, where young players, middle-aged players, experienced players together.
“Imagine when they are available. As I said, we could have easily won from 100 games 75, and that’s a big difference, I think, given the statistics you mentioned.”
Long-term absentees Lisandro Martinez, Cheap Anthony Martial Football Jerseys, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are currently sidelined, upsetting the balance of a team that clearly lacks strength in depth.
“No team can cope with this number of injuries.” – Ten Hag added. “I think we are playing at the maximum level if we take into account the availability of players.
“So, when so many key players are missing for many parts of the season, then of course the results, the performances will not be (the same) as when the players are available.
“We saw when players were available, like in January and February, our performances were very good.
“And I think from that point on, when the players weren’t even fit, they could have performed even better when they were 100 percent fit at that point, but that wasn’t the case.