Ten Hag blames injury.

Following the 1-2 defeat away to Nottingham Forest in the 20th round of the Premier League, manager Erik ten Hag identified the injury crisis as the biggest problem contributing to Manchester United's poor season.

"Injuries. There were also some other issues, but mainly injuries have hampered Man Utd's performance," Ten Hag said after the defeat at City Ground. "We haven't played with the same lineup for many consecutive games. Every change affects the rhythm of the game and could explain the inconsistency in our play."

Ten Hag during Manchester United's defeat to Nottingham Forest at City Ground on December 30th in the 20th round of the Premier League. Photo: Reuters

The Dutch coach reiterated his pre-match statement, expressing confidence that Manchester United would perform better with the return of key players from the start of the new year. "In January, Manchester United will have many players back, so the level could be higher," he said. "We've had to play with nine different defensive pairings. But that doesn't matter, the fans don't want to hear that. They want to see Manchester United win, and we have to deliver that."

In their final match of 2023, Man Utd were missing 11 players due to injury, while Luke Shaw, Sofyan Amrabat, Harry Maguire, Mason Mount, Tyrell Malacia, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, and Anthony Martial were ruled out, and Jadon Sancho remained out due to disciplinary issues. Rasmus Hojlund – after scoring his first Premier League goal in the win against Aston Villa earlier in the week – was also unavailable due to illness.

After their comeback victory against Aston Villa, Man Utd returned to a lackluster performance against Nottingham Forest. The "Red Devils" controlled 55% of the possession but played ineffectively, creating few chances with only five shots on target. Their bright spot was Marcus Rashford's goal, a low curling shot into the far corner following a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest scored two goals following the same scenario from their only two shots on target. In the 64th minute, Gonzalo Montiel passed the ball across to Nicolas Dominguez, who curled a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Andre Onana. In the 82nd minute, Anthony Elanga, a former Manchester United player from 2021-2023, passed the ball across to Morgan Gibbs-White, who fired a one-touch shot into the near corner, leaving Onana with no chance to save it.

Bruno Fernandes (number 8) looks disappointed after the defeat to Nottingham Forest at City Ground on December 30th in the 20th round of the Premier League. Photo: Reuters

"Obviously, the result is very disappointing, and I'm also disappointed with the first-half performance," said Ten Hag. "The whole team should have tried harder. We created few chances before halftime and should have played faster. In the final third, we didn't play well enough and didn't put in enough effort to create opportunities."

Yesterday's defeat at City Ground resulted in a series of negative statistics for Man Utd. The 0-2 result ended their 11-match winning streak against Nottingham in all competitions and marked their first Premier League defeat of a calendar year since 2011 – where they lost 2-3 to Blackburn Rovers.

In total, Man Utd lost 21 games in all competitions in 2023. In the club's history, only three other calendar years have seen them lose more games: 1930 (28 games), 1972 (25) and 1921 (24).

Man Utd suffered their ninth Premier League defeat of the season, equaling their tally for the entire 2022-2023 season. The last time they lost so many games in the first 20 rounds was in the 1989-1990 season, when Sir Alex Ferguson's team finished 13th. On that occasion, Ferguson escaped dismissal thanks to winning the FA Cup.

When asked about his expectations for 2024, Ten Hag replied: "First, the players are coming back. Then, Man Utd will have a stronger squad. We will also have a stronger reserve and opportunities to make changes during matches. I am confident that Man Utd will be stronger in the new year. We are all in the same boat, the players are not happy and we have to turn things around."

On January 8th, Man Utd will travel to Wigan for the third round of the FA Cup, then return to Old Trafford to host Tottenham in the 21st round of the Premier League on January 14th.

Hong Duy

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