Sept 19 (Askume) – Manchester United hope to recover from last season’s 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace and improve the squad depth this season, head coach Erik ten Hag said on Thursday.
After losing 3-0 at home to Liverpool earlier this month, United beat Southampton 3-0 in the league and thrashed Barnsley 7-0 in the Carabao Cup and now get ready for Saturday’s trip to Selhurst Park in preparation for Premier League action.
After a season plagued by injuries which limited Hague’s options in both attack and defence, United strengthened their squad with new players, including defender Matthijs de Ligt, midfielder Manuel Ugarte and forward Joshua Zirkzee.
“The 4-0 win (in May) was perfectly fair, but things will be different on Saturday. I don’t compare (the circumstances), but since February we have scored 11 goals every time,” Ten Haan said. “We have to find players who can make a squad, and now that we have 18 players, we can (easily) pick a squad.”
Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malaysia, Luke Shaw and Lenny Yaro were all left out of the squad, but Manchester United’s performance has been boosted with midfielder Mason Mount and forward Rasmus Yolund returning from injury.
“We still have a lot of games to play in this block, so we are happy. It’s good news,” the Dutch coach said.
“They’re back on the field, in training and we’ll have to decide (tomorrow) whether they’re fit to start. But I think it’s great to have them back in the squad.”
“When you have a full squad it is easier to manage the load and when you are in a situation like last season and you have to play then we have to put more load on them. We hope we can be very careful with them and be able to integrate them.
Oliver Glasner’s side have been winless at the start of the season with two defeats and two draws, but a 2-1 League Cup win over QPR on Tuesday infused some much-needed positivity thanks to late goals from Chi Eze and debutant Eddie Nketiah.
After a trip to Crystal Palace, United take on Dutch side Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday.
