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Erik ten Hag gives Man United a rallying call but alluded to team exhaustion.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag believes “the Champions League is our life” after his team’s top-four aspirations were dashed by West Ham on Sunday.
Travel sickness is threatening to undermine those efforts, with the Red Devils suffering another away defeat at West Ham in their latest outing.
United have now slipped to eight losses on the road this season, with just one point separating them from arch-rivals Liverpool with four games remaining.
Ten Hag has made a rallying cry that he believes will have everyone at Old Trafford pushing in the same direction. Ten Hag is mindful of the necessity to finish with a flourish as his team clings to fourth place in the league.
The Dutch tactician has said: “We have to keep going and we have to show character. It is only four games and you need the energy. It is in your head, make sure it is not in your legs.
Get ready for the games, clear head, energy, focus, and go. I said to the players: ‘Don’t feel sorry for ourselves.’ We want to be in the Champions League, the Champions League is our life, and then you have to suffer and you have to sacrifice and, especially, you have to believe.
As I just said in the dressing room, ‘come on, it [mistakes] can happen, in this season we’ve had some terrible setbacks and every time we bounced back so, once again, show the character and go on’.”
The Spanish goalkeeper, who was making his record 540th appearance for the Red Devils, made a costly mistake against West Ham that allowed the team to lose more crucial points. De Gea was unable to stop Said Benrahma’s feeble first-half shot.
The first of United’s next four Premier League games, which will take place against Wolves next weekend, will be played before they take on their neighbours from Manchester City in the FA Cup final on June 3.