(Reuters) – Manager Erik ten Hag has played down reports of unrest in Manchester United’s dressing room ahead of their Premier League showdown with Chelsea on Wednesday.
The club banned four journalists from Tuesday’s press conference after they reported that the manager had lost more than 50% of the dressing room.
The manager was asked if he was concerned that the stories in the media could be true.
“No, of course there are always in every team players who are not playing who are not as happy, not different as normal, you have to wait for the chance and that can come, but there are no issues,” he said.
The club said in a statement they barred the reporters: “Not for publishing stories we don’t like, but for doing so without contacting us first and give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise.”
Ten Hag backed the stand taken by United.
“They should have come to us first and not go behind our back printing articles that is not the right thing,” Ten Hag told reporters.
“We have a good relationship, they come to us beforehand, we have a debate about it.”
The Dutchman then highlighted his team’s success, adding that he had the support of the players.
“Oh yes, I am sure, you can see for instance the comeback against Brentford, the Burnley game, the Fulham game, every time the team is there, showed great character, great determination, resilience so we are together.
“You can see you can’t play such great football as we did recently without unity.”
The manager was also keen to point out that there is no disorder within the squad.
“Not in the dressing room. Of course there are a lot of rumours but it is not that we get distracted by it,” Ten Hag said.
“We are on a journey, a route, we know we are in transition but we are in the right direction, we construct a team, develop it, the team is progressing, young players coming in and you see the potential how they can contribute to a successful Manchester United team for the future.”
After three consecutive league wins, United suffered a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday, but the manager was not too concerned.
“We had a week of two good performances and one bad performance so from there on we carry on, the team is in a good direction.
“We played very good football scored very good goals against Galatasaray and Everton and against Newcastle didn’t play great, we’re not happy with that performance, but we stayed in the game and had two good opportunities to get a point.”
United are seventh in the standings with 24 points.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing Pritha Sarkar)
