United drought continues but Ten Hag says no need for forward moves

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford (L) comes on to replace Rasmus Hojlund (R) during the Premier League football match against West Ham United at the London Stadium (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Erik Ten Hag has side-stepped questions about whether Manchester United need to sign a striker in the transfer window after going four games without a goal for the first time since 1992– but he didn’t sound convincing.

United tumbled to a miserable 2-0 defeat at West Ham, making it six hours and 46 minutes without scoring and 13 defeats in all competitions this season.

It’s a terrible record which has left manager Ten Hag under pressure.

But when asked directly whether his current selection of forward players are good enough to achieve the club’s targets this season, he opted not to call for reinforcements.

He said: “We have players who can do it, they proved in the past they can do it. But we also have to acknowledge the facts that we didn’t do it, as a team. So, we have to take responsibility.

“The players who are on the pitch are good enough to win the game. So, it’s about getting into the box, make sure you are there. Make sure you have the willingness to arrive there and be clinical to score a goal.

“The players are capable. I know Marcus can score a goal, Hojlund can score a goal, Garnacho can score a goal, Bruno can score a goal, Scott McTominay can score.

“We have the scoring abilities in our squad and also from set plays. But in this moment we are not doing it. So, they have to stick together and believe in themselves, believe that they can do it. They have to get there where you have to score, and that is in the box – and especially in the six-yard box.” 

Perhaps the biggest concern is the form of striker Rasmus Hojlund, a big money €83m signing from Atalanta in the summer who has struggled to make an impact.

He was substituted in the second half at the London Stadium having barely touched the ball and is yet to register a goal in the Premier League.

But Ten Hag defended the forward and backed him to cope with the pressure.

He said: “I think he’s a very strong character and he can deal with stress. I took him off because he was ill in the week and had a little bit a lack of power. In that sense I protected him because we have to play two more games this week.” 

Marcus Rashford, who replaced Hojlund after just 55 minutes, also did nothing as West Ham won through second-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.

Then the England forward appeared to walk straight down the tunnel without acknowledging the United away fans – unlike the rest of his teammates.

Ten Hag insisted he hadn’t noticed, and instead focused on geeing up his team for a difficult game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on St Stephen’s Day.

He said: “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves – no one. We have to take responsibility. If you are playing for Manchester United you have to do it together with everyone and be accountable, and take responsibility.

“Today was about the first goal. When you control the game you have to take the goal. We created three good chances in the first half and we didn’t take them, then one moment of shutting off and we are done, we are losing the game. That’s how I see the performance.” 

Even so, the stats are pretty unpleasant for United right now. They have lost 13 games in all competitions - and they haven’t lost that many before Christmas in the top flight since the 1930-31 season, when they finished bottom of the table.

Ten Hag may be unwilling to talk about the transfer window, but with Jim Ratcliffe’s €1.75m investment hopefully happening soon, United desperately need goals from somewhere.

West Ham have found them by moving Bowen from the wing to a central striking position, and his goal means he has already scored 11 this season. The result saw Manchester United slip out of the top six and pushed West Ham above them in the table.

“We want to be a top-six side,” said Bowen. “If you look at the top 10 it’s probably the most open it’s ever been with teams coming in. Aston Villa are even in top four.

“All we can do is win our games but we want to be in the top six minimum, for sure.”