Erik ten Hag observed his Manchester United squad suffer a 2-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
The former Ajax boss expressed the opinion that injuries are significantly impacting his team’s performance in what has been a severely inconsistent season.
The loss at the City Ground was the Red Devils’ 14th defeat of the season in all competitions and leaves them seventh in the Premier League table.
The Dutchman is certainly dealing with a long injury list, with Rasmus Hojlund the latest to join it as he missed the trip to Nottingham through illness.
Also missing the match were Luke Shaw, Sofyan Amrabat, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof, Casemiro, Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial through injury.
Asked why his team are struggling so much with consistency, having impressively beaten Aston Villa last time out, Ten Hag was adamant.
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‘Because of injuries,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘We have also some issues, but mainly the injuries that hold us back in the progress. We have to turn that.
What is hopeful is that in January a lot of players are returning and then our levels can be higher.
‘You want to build on Tuesday but then again you have to replace your striker.
Then it’s logical that you see in the first half from the front three what you have seen.
‘We haven’t played in a row with the same team.
Today again we had to change because of Rasmus Hojlund. It’s explainable why we are inconsistent.’
Despite this, he admitted that his side’s performance was not good enough,
especially in the first half, which saw the Red Devils create almost nothing.
It was in the second stanza that they conceded twice to Forest, but Ten Hag was happier with the second than the first.
‘It’s clear the result is very disappointing and I was also disappointed with the performance before half-time,’ he said.
‘We should invest more in moments, we created less before half-time, we should invest more there by quicker play and movements. I thought second half was better.
‘We are in the same boat with the players, they are not happy with this. We have to do better.’
