Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag insists the future is bright despite losing at home to Fulham for only the second time in 61 years.
2-1 loss It was United's 10th defeat in the Premier League this season.
To put this into context, Sir Alex Ferguson never experienced the ignominious experience of losing 10 league games in 21 seasons in the Premier League. This has happened five times in the past 11 seasons at United.
Despite beating Unai Emery's side with two wins, they remain eight points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Although the home side had more possession, more corners, more shots and more shots on target in Saturday's game against Old Trafford, most observers would agree with Fulham manager Marco Silva's succinct summary. “In my opinion, the better team obviously won the game.”
But in a week in which Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirmed he is United's co-owner, unseating Manchester City and Liverpool, and spoke about the importance of Champions League qualification, Ten Hag I came up with another story.
“Once you lose you have to look at the big picture, and the big picture looks very good,” the Dutchman said.
Ten Baba's reasoning is threefold.
First of all, he needs to get his injured players back. The United manager mourned the death of influential midfielder Casemiro, who hit him on the head during the still goalless match. It was a tough blow for United, with Rasmus Hjølund, Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez already sidelined.
Ten Hag also understands the expectations of Alejandro Garnacho, Koby Mainu and Omari Forson, who was defended by the manager after failing to inspire in his full debut: “I think it was a reasonable performance.''
And while Ratcliffe said earlier this week that not qualifying for the Champions League would make things tough financially in the summer, there is also a transfer window.
“Once the injury heals, the team will be more balanced,” Ten Hag said. “We also need to strengthen our team in the transfer market, so we have a lot of good players with a lot of potential.
“We're definitely going in the right direction. So when we get everyone together, we can have a very good team.”
Pressure for FA Cup draw ahead of city meeting
Analysis – Simon Stone, BBC Sport
United will be able to add Fulham to Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest as an unheralded club for a fraction of their budget this season.
Next weekend they travel to Manchester City. Few will be convinced that United can avoid an 11th defeat of the league season at the Etihad Stadium.
Additionally, they still have to face Liverpool and Arsenal at Old Trafford towards the end of the season, so it is clear that even if they manage to secure five spots in the end, it will be very difficult to qualify for the Champions League. is.
This will focus even more attention on the FA Cup fifth round match against Forest in midweek.
Famously, victory at the City Ground in 1990 was the catalyst for an appearance at Wembley, and under pressure Ferguson continued to work, paving the way for sustained success over two decades.
Despite Ratcliffe's bold words, United's current ambitions are quite modest. For Ten Hag, the “big picture'' is uncertain.
At this point, it is unknown whether victory or defeat for House Trent will affect or destroy Ten Hag's reign. But at least if United still have a chance of winning something, they will go into their impending clash with Pep Guardiola on a firmer footing.
