At 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on October 4, Manchester United will challenge Porto away in the 2nd round of the UEFA Cup league stage. On the eve of the match, United manager Jens Ten Hagar attended a press conference to give his views on the team's mood, reaction to the match against Tottenham Hotspur, ways to improve results, the new soccer management structure, United's goals, communication with the sporting director, sticking to the plan, players' beliefs, attacking chances, and the injuries of Munt and Luke Shaw.
Ten Hagar began by talking about the team's emotions, "Whenever we don't win, we're always disappointed and angry with ourselves. It's our character and our desire to win."
On the loss to Tottenham, Ten Hag said, "We are angry, especially when you lose a game like Sunday. But you have to face it and get motivated from that anger."
Speaking on how to improve results, Ten Hagar emphasized, "Everyone has to take responsibility, starting with me as the coach. But on the field, we need people with leadership skills to step up. Every game is important, every opponent will be 100% committed and we have to be ready to compete and fight them."
On the new soccer management structure, Ten Hagar revealed, "We communicate every day and we are a team. We made this commitment in the summer by replacing the coaching staff and appointing new assistants and members of the coaching staff."
On United's goals, Ten Hag said, "This club wants to get back to the top and that is a long-term goal. We are communicating, evaluating and reviewing the process on a daily basis and we will make decisions when necessary."
Ten Hagar also talked about the exchange with athletic director Dan Ashworth, "We talk every day about how we can improve this club, this team, improve processes, procedures and connections."
Speaking about sticking to the plan, Ten Hag said, "[Against Tottenham] it's just one game. We'll look back at what we could have done better, like conceding a goal so quickly which shouldn't have happened. But you have to stay calm and composed, keep playing and stick to the plan. We can definitely improve."
On the belief of the players, Ten Hagar is confident: "I watched a lot of the games on Sunday and we are very confident. Look at the FA Cup and the Community Shield against Manchester City and you can see the team has great belief in the plan and in each other."
Speaking about the attacking chances, Ten Hag said, "If we didn't create chances that would be one thing, but we created a lot of chances and are third in the Premier League in terms of expected goals. We have to improve our performance in the attacking third and in the box and be more lethal there. Our strikers are capable of doing that."
Finally, Ten Hag revealed the injuries to Mount and Luke Shaw: "Mason (Mount) not only suffered a head injury but also a knock. I hope Luke Shaw will be able to return after the international day."
