MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Manchester United must use the emotions they are feeling after the death of Bobby Charlton “in the right way”, manager Erik ten Hag said on Monday, adding that he hoped his team could draw inspiration from the standards set by the England great.
Charlton, who was a key figure in England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, died at the age of 86 on Saturday. He helped United win the European Cup in 1968 and three English league titles as well as the FA Cup.
“Bobby was a legend – a giant not only for Manchester United, but for football. So his legacy, what he left were the standards, the high standards. We have to live it every day,” Ten Hag told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s home game against FC Copenhagen.
“(His statue) is in front of Old Trafford, with Denis Law and George Best. He is always with us and they are always a huge inspiration for us, every day and for every game.”
Asked about how United would deal with the emotions of the game, Ten Hag said: “We are professionals, it’s our job. You can’t ban emotions but you can use emotions in the right way.
“… Firstly we want to win and pay tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton; you always want to do that in a certain way and that is what we are aiming for.”
United are bottom of Group A in the Champions League, with two defeats from two games.
Tuesday’s match will see Rasmus Hojlund come up against his former team Copenhagen, and Ten Hag backed the United striker to add to the two goals he scored in a Champions League loss to Galatasaray earlier this month.
“He’s always playing in scoring positions in our team and I’m confident (he will score goals), as well for Marcus Rashford the same,” Ten Hag said.
“In every game when we do what we have to do as a team we always get in scoring positions and then it’s about finishing. When you analyse all the games so far we have seen it.”
United began their season poorly, but have won their last two Premier League games against Brentford and Sheffield United.
Defender Diogo Dalot called on United to build momentum from the wins, adding: “We’ve shown we can find a way to win; we have fantastic players who can show up and give us what we need.
“We have to use these two wins to build confidence for the next games.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
