Manchester United Stands Firm on Erik ten Hag Despite Loss: Manager Says He's 'Not Thinking' About Losing Job

Manchester United's board of directors threw its weight behind manager Erik ten Hag amid growing pressure from a string of disappointing results.

The latest 3-0 defeat to Tottenham was one of the most unacceptable performances. Still, the United hierarchy is keen to continue supporting ten Hag and his team rather than making immediate managerial changes.

Backing for ten Hag Despite Poor Form

The win at Spurs meant Manchester United's second successive 3-0 home defeat, coming on the back of a similar hammering from Liverpool. Nonetheless, sources assert that Manchester United's top leadership is not considering bringing about an imminent change.

Instead, they want ten Hag to have all the resources and support needed to change the situation around the team, especially with matches against Porto and Aston Villa on the horizon.

While this kind of money has been added to the book since ten Hag arrived, also tremendous investment in buying talent; the Dutchman is under the impression of many huge investments.

Six months since the arrival of ten Hag, Manchester United sits in the 12th position in the Premier League table, six points off Champions League places.

"I am not thinking about this. We all made the decision to stay together as ownership and a leadership group in the summer. We made the decision from after a clear review what we have to improve as an organisation and how we want to construct a squad," ten Hag said in an interview, as per BBC.

"We are all on one page or in one boat together - the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and the players as well. I don't have that concern," he added.

Familiar Flaws Resurface

Actually, before the defeat to Tottenham, United had shown lots of improvement, again both in attack and defense but, yet again, United has ended up coming off the short end of the stick as they lacked a clinical touch and defensive failings where they end up failing to press the ball adequately.

The fact that United failed to score in three of their last four league games is particularly concerning because no other team has scored fewer goals this season. United's problems in scoring only exacerbate the defensive fragilities brutally exposed in the Spurs defeat.

Important Matches Lie Ahead of ten Hag

His further career will be decided in the forthcoming Champions League matches against Porto and during the Premier League games at Aston Villa. In European tournaments, his record has been below average during the last nine matches, with just one victory.

According to SkySports, the trip to Porto is seen as a decisive test, and with Unai Emery's Aston Villa now on a run of four Premier League matches without defeat, the pressure on ten Hag is mounting.

A defeat in either of those games might only add to concerns about whether ten Hag is the man to lead this club forward. He has rescued his tenure before, most notably at the end of last season, when winning the FA Cup made him a double winner since his appointment. But he cannot rely on that doing it all over again.

United's leadership has been undeterred by all the speculation going on about ten Hag's future; the managerial position had an in-depth review over the summer while talking to several high-profile candidates, with Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi, and Mauricio Pochettino all getting a call before they finally agreed to extend ten Hag's contract by another year.

Manchester United's leadership still believes that Erik ten Hag is the right man for the job, even for this untidy start. A very tight week awaits him regarding must-win matches against Porto and Aston Villa, and he will need to show them that he can guide the team back into form.