Erik ten Hag admits Manchester United ‘not ready’ for start of the season

Dutchman’s third season at Old Trafford could well be defined by the number of injured players

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted his team “are not ready” for the start of the season despite confirming new signings Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui will be involved against Fulham.
As with many Premier League teams, United have had a disrupted pre-season with players returning at different times following international duty and new signings coming in at Old Trafford.
There have also already been high-profile injuries – a problem that plagued the club last season – and Ten Hag insists he will not rush back the latest of those, England full-back Luke Shaw.
Although he clearly believes it will take time for his new-look side to hit their stride, the United manager at least has the former Bayern Munich pair, whose arrivals this week took his spending just south of £150 million, will be involved.
“There are issues there but it’s not about those who are not available, same as last season it’s about who is available and we can put out a strong team,” he said.
“They [De Ligt and Mazraoui] will be in the squad and Harry Maguire will be in the squad as well.
“It’s not a pre-season where in five or six weeks, you work on a team, it’s very complicated.
“The USA tour squad [trained] and then we added the players at the Euros and Copa America and now new signings and we have to make a team from it.
“That team is not ready but the league starts and more managers have this problem. Still, we have some room, have some principles and we have to make a start. We can’t hide, we have to deal with it.
“We are complete and we are now working together for 10 days and always it will take a while. There will be more teams who have this problem.
“At the start of the season, don’t drop points, work hard, make sure you are organised in and out of possession. We are not in 100 per cent form but we have to go from game to game to improve and to get higher performance levels in the team and in individual players.
“We will see how quick we can go with this process.”
Shaw has joined Rasmus Hojlund and new defender Leny Yoro on the injured list – a frustrating state of affairs given his problems last season and the fact he made an appearance for England at the Euros, only to pick up a calf problem in training.
In his injury-plagued Old Trafford career, the 29-year-old has averaged only 19 league appearances a season and his manager will not risk rushing him back.
“He will return in the short term, it doesn’t take long,” said ten Hag. “We are looking forward, of course, for Luke Shaw.
“A very important player for our team so we want to get him back as soon as possible but we can’t force this process.”