Coach Erik Ten Hag affirmed that Man Utd will not be afraid of any opponent from January 2024, thanks to the return of many pillars after injury.
“We hope many players will return to the squad in mid-January such as Mason Mount, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Tycell Malacia, of course we expect Harry Maguire to return as well,” coach Ten Hag shared before the event. Man Utd’s last match of the calendar year when the “Red Devils” will be away at Nottingham Forest’s field tomorrow morning (0:30 on December 31, Vietnam time).
The Dutch strategist admitted that Man Utd is still missing many pillars when facing Nottingham Forest in round 20 of the Premier League, but he expects to have the strongest squad in the second half of this season thanks to the return. of many stars, including Victor Lindelof and Amad Diallo.
“I think we are very optimistic. When the players returned from injury, Man Utd seemed to have added 5 or 6 new contracts in January.
I think no team has suffered as many defeats as we have due to so many injuries in the squad. It’s so difficult that the whole team must be satisfied with the score they have.
With all the players back, we proved that against Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa in the last matches. Man Utd could have won all of these matches. We showed we have desire, determination and the right mentality.
That once again shows that this squad is very strong even if many players do not participate. Even then, Man Utd can compete and confront the strongest teams in this tournament.
When the players come back, we can beat anyone if we have the right mentality. That depends on the players,” coach Ten Hag confidently declared.
In the previous round, Man Utd surprised everyone by coming back and defeating the team that is in excellent form this season, Aston Villa, with a score of 3-2, thereby rising to 7th place in the Premier League rankings. and 6 points away from the top 4 position held by Man City.
Although Nottingham Forest defeated Newcastle in the previous round with a score of 3-1, they are only 2 points away from the relegation group. Home field advantage will help coach Nuno Santos’ team cause many difficulties for Man Utd, when coach Ten Hag and his team have a pretty bad away record this season.