Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reacted in good faith when an interviewer bizarrely admitted the media enjoys seeing the club in crisis.
The Red Devils are on a roll after a poor start to the 2023/24 season, winning five of their last six Premier League games.
They are still fighting to preserve their Champions League status though and will be eliminated at the group stage with defeat at Galatasaray on Wednesday evening.
In a video with TNT Sports that has now been taken down, interviewer Matt Smith claimed the media relish when United are in crisis.
“Every week feels like a big week but this feels like an important week for you. A little bit of a point where the season can really improve, or another crisis as we like to see from the outside,” he said.
Ten Hag was a little taken back by the admission, smiling and replying: “Oh, you like it? Okay, that’’s quite honest. You want to see it, but we don’t care about that.”
Expectations were high for United heading into Ten Hag’s second season in charge after a relatively successful first campaign in which he ended the club’s six-year trophy drought and finished third in the Premier League.
The signings of Mason Mount, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and Sofyan Amrabat were hailed as good pieces of transfer business but none have set the world alight in United colours to this point.
Further scrutiny will come United’s way if they are indeed dumped out of the Champions League prematurely. They sit one point behind Copenhagen and Galatasaray ahead of their meeting with the latter.
What we know
- Man Utd back in form after early-season struggles
- Red Devils could be knocked out of Champions League on Wednesday
- Erik ten Hag held back when reporter revealed the media like seeing the club in crisis.