“You have to look at the bigger picture and the bigger picture looks very good,” Ten Hag said after the defeat at Old Trafford. “We have to patch up many positions. We have to recover from injuries to make the squad more balanced. We have to strengthen the squad in the transfer window. Man Utd also has potential young players. We certainly have is on the right track. When welcoming the best force, Man Utd is a strong club.”
In this match, as the host, Man Utd played without ideas and was often threatened by Fulham, despite controlling the ball and finishing more. In the first 20 minutes, Alex Iwobi had two shots off the post and Rodrigo Muniz headed diagonally, causing goalkeeper Andre Onana to show his talent. Before the first half ended, Fulham created two more good opportunities, including Muniz’s turning shot that hit the wooden frame and Andreas Pereira’s blocked curling shot.
After many missed opportunities, Fulham took the lead in the 65th minute with midfielder Calvin Bassey’s close-range shot into the roof of the net.
A point seemed to stay with Man Utd, when Harry Maguire scored to equalize the score at 1-1 in the 89th minute. But in the seventh minute of injury, Iwobi shined with a ball that eliminated Diogo Dalot and Amad Diallo and then shot. into the near corner, leaving Onana rooted to the spot.
Ten Hag said that Man Utd had to cover the first goal better and blamed Maguire for the second goal. During the high phase to catch people, the English midfielder let Adama Traore pass and did not have time to run back to cover for his teammates, leading to Iwobi’s goal. “We put pressure on them but one player was in the wrong position,” Ten Hag said. “So as a team we have to manage better, to keep the players in the right positions. We let them get away with the ball, get punished and that could have been avoided.”
At the same stage last season, Man Utd won the League Cup, is competing for the Top 4 Premier League and is on the journey to the FA Cup final. When asked why this season’s decline, Ten Hag complained about Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw continuously taking long breaks, Rasmus Hojlund was injured against Fulham, and Casemiro had problems and left the field at the beginning of the second half.
The Dutch coach admitted that Man Utd did not enter the game well and lacked concentration at the end of the match, but was satisfied with the fighting spirit of his students. “We played well last time and had a setback today. We should have won this match because the whole team showed great spirit,” he said.
The loss caused Man Utd to miss the opportunity to equalize the score with Tottenham – the team ranked fifth and not playing this weekend. Ten Hag and his team will be guests at Nottingham Forest in the next match on February 28, within the fifth round of the FA Cup.