Erik ten Hag makes concerning Manchester United admission on eve of new season
Erik ten Hag admits some teams are 'ahead' of Manchester United in their preparations for the new season.
United's 2024-25 campaign gets underway against Manchester City in the Community Shield on Saturday before their opening Premier League fixture against Fulham at Old Trafford next week. Ten Hag guided United to FA Cup glory only 11 weeks ago but the club endured their worst league season in 34 years, finishing eighth with a negative goal difference.
United have not won the Premier League title in more than 11 years and the likelihood is that drought will stretch beyond 12, with Ten Hag conceding in an interview last month that a championship challenge this term is unrealistic.
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Ahead of his sixth match in charge of United at Wembley, he said: "We will again challenge for the Carabao and FA Cup as well, so it shows we are competitive and can beat every opponent, that is what we proved in the last two seasons.
"We beat Liverpool, we beat Man City but our challenge is to bring consistency and I say with all respect against lower class teams - I don’t think there are lower class teams in the Premier League. To win the points and I think other teams are ahead of us in that prospect. There we have to catch up."
Ten Hag also suggested United could struggle to hit the ground running due to the staggered returns of their players from international duty. Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martinez and Facundo Pellistri reported at the club's Carrington training complex on Monday after Joshua Zirkzee, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho came back last week.
United suffered