New season will be ‘survival of fittest’ – Ten Hag

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants to draw a line under uncertainties of the past and look forward to a season he believes will represent “a survival of the fittest”.

The manner of his side’s FA Cup final win over Manchester City at Wembley in May almost certainly kept Ten Hag in a job.

Confirmation of the 54-year-old’s renewed appointment – with the triggering of a one-year option in his contract which will keep the former Ajax boss at Old Trafford until 2026 – came after a lengthy review by new co-owners Ineos.

Ten Hag bullishly stated that “if they don’t want me, I will go and win somewhere else” in the aftermath of the FA Cup success.

It was a sign of his self-belief, although Ten Hag is keen to draw a line under the uncertainty at the start of a tour on which United have been joined by new chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.

“That [winning trophies] is what I did all my career,” said Ten Hag. “I believe in myself. We had to wait very long but by the end we got the reward.

“Now we are in a new season. We left everything behind and we are looking forward. It’s a great project. There will be ups and downs but now we are very energised, with a good dynamic and good spirit. We want to work and we want to win.”

United were decimated by injuries last season, particularly in defence, where they had six players missing at various points.

Ten Hag has already gone some way to addressing the issue on and off the pitch.

Almost £90m has been spent on French defender Leny Yoro and Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee. In addition, United have brought in two highly regarded members from Arsenal’s backroom team in Gary O’Driscoll as head of sports medicine and Jordan Reece as head physio.

“Even more than before, this season will be the survival of the fittest,” said Ten Hag, whose team face Arsenal in a pre-season tour game on Saturday.

“The load on the players is so high. We are not the only team with so many injuries and we were not even the worst. It was our bad luck. We had them at the end of the season in the back four and it cost us a lot of points. But the pressure on players is immense, with the new model in Europe.”

United’s FA Cup final victory means they qualified for the Europa League which, like the Champions League, will involve eight first-phase games rather than the familiar six.

Ten Hag is continuing to look for new players, with full-back and central defence the priority positions.

However, he also realises he needs to get more out of the players he has, particularly England duo Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount.

Rashford’s form collapsed last term, when he went from a career-high 30 goals in the 2022-23 season to just eight.

Mount started only five Premier League games following his £55m move from Chelsea last summer and was restricted to a single minute as a substitute against City at Wembley.

“Rashford had scored so many goals and at a relative young age,” Ten Hag said. “He is capable of it. I am confident and have 100% belief he can do the same as two years ago.

“I don’t judge Mason because he was injured, but when he is fit he will be a very good player. You need certain types in a squad. He can play in different positions and I’m sure he will help the team.”

Minutes before Ten Hag began his first news conference at the UCLA complex in Los Angeles, United confirmed another addition to their coaching team in former Lillestrom and Malmo boss Andreas Georgson.

The 42-year-old previously worked in England at Brentford, Arsenal and Southampton and joins former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and ex-Go Ahead Eagles coach Rene Hake in a much-changed backroom unit.

“We did a review of the staff and did some profiling for what we want to fill in,” Ten Hag said. “He will do his work in areas such as individual development, winning culture and set-piece.”

Meanwhile, Genoa are weighing up a move for former United goalkeeper David de Gea.

The 33-year-old Spaniard has been without a club for over a year since leaving Old Trafford.