Erik ten Hag insists Marcus Rashford’s motivation is not an issue – Man United News And Transfer News

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Erik ten Hag has admitted his Manchester United team are not likely to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

At the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s match against Liverpool, the manager was asked if his side needed a faultless end to the season.

“Yeah, I’ve said it before. But I think so, yeah,” he replied.

“In stoppage time this week, we have dropped five points, it is very expensive. Because the points are getting more expensive because the games are running out and we know that.

“We have to catch up and we are now many points behind, so it will be difficult. But we will keep fighting and I’m sure that you see, our team, they have character.

“We have seen an example today as well, they are resilient and I’m sure they will be there on Sunday, to be in the fight against Liverpool.

“For me personally, I have to manage the game and I have to manage the team, I meant to say. We see we have qualities. We have some great players. We can be in momentum, we can play very high standards.

“We have seen today an example and we have seen against Liverpool. We can compete with the best, we can beat the best teams in the Premier League. When you do it in the Premier League, you can do it across Europe.

“But we need to learn now how to win games. It was an example [yesterday against Chelsea], Saturday was an example, how you bring big games over the line, get three points. We have to step up. We have to make better decisions, individually and as a team.”

Asked about Marcus Rashford’s motivation as footage of him trotting aimlessly circulated around social media, Ten Hag replied:

“We still have a chance in the FA Cup and fight for a Champions League spot, the Euros are also coming up so I would say his motivation should be high. The form, that is a moment but we can always change the momentum always and lately before Brentford he scored 3 goals in 3 games.”

Speaking about the Liverpool game, Ten Hag admitted:

“First I have to deal with this [Chelsea defeat]. We have to recover very quick. We have to turn this around, so from tomorrow everyone will be in a positive mood, we have to go forward, we have to make energy.

“From that angry, you can take a lot of energy and that is to be how we have to do it.”

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