Ten Hag calls for fans' backing

LONDON • Casemiro will bring some much needed professionalism into a fractured dressing room, but the Brazil midfielder will not be eligible for Manchester United's clash against Liverpool even if his £60 million (S$98.7 million) move from Real Madrid is finalised today.

Erik ten Hag will instead have to rely on the same set of players who have slumped to back-to-back losses - their worst start to a season since the English Premier League's inception in 1992 - and the Dutchman is demanding an attitude change against their bitter rivals.

Ahead of today's pressure game at Old Trafford, the under-fire United manager said: "I was definitely not happy. The basic stuff has to be good and that has to start with the right attitude.

"You need fighting spirit on the pitch and I didn't see it from minute one. The players didn't play good, a lot went wrong. You don't have to talk about anything (tactical) when the attitude is not right."

Despite the imminent arrival of Casemiro, United supporters are still peeved after an underwhelming transfer window which has seen the Red Devils land just three new faces in Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Lisandro Martinez. A mass protest is being planned outside Old Trafford ahead of the Liverpool match, with fans pointing the finger at the club's American owners, the Glazer family, for a near decade of decline since legendary manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Ten Hag knows where they are coming from, but the former Ajax Amsterdam coach hopes that for 90 minutes, the home crowd will give the players their full support instead of taking out their frustrations on them.

"I can only say the owners want to win," he added. "The fans, we want them behind the club. I can understand sometimes, I am not that long in the club that I can see all the backgrounds, but... we have to be unified and fight together."

Anthony Martial is fit to return to the squad after two games out, leaving ten Hag with another big call to make on whether to start Cristiano Ronaldo up front.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has featured in United's opening two games of the season, including starting at Brentford, but still appears to be trying to orchestrate a move away before the transfer window closes on Sept 1.

Ten Hag has taken some flak for trying to play a pressing game and playing out from the back even though United do not currently have the right players to do so.

But the 52-year-old, who is desperate to avoid equalling former United manager John Chapman's record of three losses from his first three competitive games in 1921, has insisted his team will stick to their game plan against Liverpool.

"I know the rivals, we are the rivals. We have to win every game, especially this game," he said. "It's not different to motivate this team because my experience with them is they work really good on the training pitch."

However, Bruno Fernandes has admitted confidence is low.

"It's a sad locker room, a bit dejected by the results. Expectations were high after the pre-season we had, but there is no problem in the dressing room, quite the opposite," the midfielder said.

"The locker room knows it's not at the level it needs to be. I need to look in the mirror and do better than I've been doing."

Casemiro will be expected to shore up a weak midfield once his move is completed, but pundit and former Liverpool star Didi Hamann does not believe his signing will change anything.

He told the Daily Mirror: "We're only two games into the season and it's already obvious that United aren't going to be anywhere near the title race.

"Signing Casemiro is a small step forward - but he's not the answer. It is going to take years and years of backing Erik ten Hag in the transfer market before United are challenging for the big trophies again.

"But that's been obvious since Ferguson retired - and look at how many managers (four full-time) they have sacked in the process."

REUTERS

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