Erik ten Hag is confident the impending returns of two Manchester United stars will transform his side and save him from the sack.
The Dutchman’s future is again hanging in the balance and would appear to hinge on the outcome of Sunday’s daunting trip to Aston Villa.
Ten Hag oversaw another chaotic performance on Thursday night when his side threw away a two-goal lead against Porto, before snatching an unlikely equaliser in injury-time after United had been reduced to 10 men.
Injuries have again played a part in United’s sluggish start to the new season but Ten Hag is adamant his team will look more like the finished article once Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia return to full fitness.
‘I think they can both play there but for the patterns I prefer in this moment Diogo but both of course are right backs,’ TenHag said about being forced to play Diogo Dalot and summer recruit Noussair Mazraoui out of position.
‘And that is another area where we have personnel issues and already for a long time we have personnel issues there.
‘So definitely we will improve as a team if we get a consistent left-footed full-back.
‘So we are waiting for Luke Shaw, we are waiting for Tyrell Malacia to return to the squad and of course that will definitely help consistent performance levels.’
Whether Ten Hag can perform another act of escapology and remains to be seen but the signs were not encouraging for the former Ajax boss judging by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s response on Friday to the recent run of poor results.
Asked if he still has faith in Ten Hag, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: ‘I think I don’t want to answer that question… I like Erik.
‘I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
‘But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June, July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
‘They’ve only been there… you can count it in weeks almost, they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
‘Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear. There’s work to be done.’
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