Ten Hag takes issue with criticised Manchester United twosome

Manchester United added an eighth game to their unbeaten run in the Premier League and Europa League on Sunday. The team beat West Ham United 1-0 thanks to a goal from Marcus Rashford. Afterwards, coach Erik ten Hag praised two of his players who have struggled recently.

For instance, Harry Maguire was back in the starting line-up for United for the first time in a long time on Sunday. The defender had been under heavy criticism for a long time, losing his place in the starting line-up under Ten Hag and then being injured. Against United, however, he was thus allowed to take his place in the centre again alongside Lisandro Martínez.

“He was great at defending the sixteen,” Ten Hag told the BBC afterwards. “He is a great player and a very good defender. We have seen how important he is for the team. I am very happy for the team, but also for Harry Maguire, that we stepped off the pitch with a clean sheet.”

One of the standouts at United was goalkeeper David de Gea. He thus gave an excellent response to an unpleasant week for him, in which it became clear that he will definitely not accompany Spain to the World Cup in Qatar. This because national coach Luis Enrique prefers to bring goalkeepers who are better at playing along. However, Ten Hag dismissed that criticism of De Gea.

“The first task of a goalkeeper is to defend his goal and prevent goals against. In that he is great. Also on the ball I think he has qualities. In that respect, he is getting better every game this season. That has to do not only with the goalkeeper himself, but also with the options the players in front of him give him.”