Despite their unexpected 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham on Saturday, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag remains optimistic, asserting that his team can bridge the eight-point gap with Aston Villa to secure a top-four finish.
In a surprising turn of events, Alex Iwobi scored in deep stoppage time, causing Fulham to stun Manchester United at Old Trafford. While the loss disrupted the positive momentum from United’s unbeaten streak in their last five league games, ten Hag remains confident in his team’s ability to overcome the points deficit and contend for a top-four position.
“I said from January on we are (playing) finals, and we won many finals,” Ten Hag told reporters after the game.
“Now we lost one final”.
Man United are sixth on the table with 44 points after 26 games, while Aston Villa, who beat Nottingham Forest 4-2 on Saturday, have 52 points.
Ten Hag said the future remained positive, pointing out that the team has been hard-hit by injuries.
Striker, Rasmus Hojlund, who scored in Man United’s six previous league games, and defender Luke Shaw are the latest absentees.
“You have to see the bigger picture and the bigger picture looks very good”, Ten Hag said.
“We have to catch up in certain positions, get the injuries back, because then we will be more in balance.
“We are going in the right direction. And when we have the players of the squad available, we have a very good team”.
