'Ridiculous thing to say' - Erik ten Hag accused of 'making excuses already' as Man Utd fans slam his 'embarrassing' comments about new squad ahead of Fulham opener

United host Fulham at Old Trafford on Friday to kickstart their 2024-25 campaign, but Ten Hag downplayed his team's chances of getting all three points. The Dutchman said at a press conference: "The team is not ready but the league starts. We can't hide from it. We have to deal with it."

The manager's complaints left a few Red Devils fans perplexed as he was accused of making excuses in case his side underwhelm in the early stages of the campaign.

"This is pathetic honestly," @FUTDonkey complained. "It’s the start of the season, we are playing the mighty Fulham at Old Trafford. Have some optimism and belief, we have the much stronger squad. Ridiculous thing to say."

"Doesn't help himself," said @93rdmin. "The negativity allows players a ready-made excuse. And I'm all for him being manager for a long time. Just think these quotes embarrass him."

Another fan, @JakeMorningsta2, wrote on X: "Biggest Erik fan but kinda annoying that he’s already making excuses and the season hasn’t even started."

@AlexMUFCz asked: "The team is not ready?? How much time do you need?" And another fan questioned: "This can’t be real?"

Meanwhile, @mr_iklerz wrote: "Why’s he making excuses already?"

United finished eighth in the table last season - their worst ever Premier League finish - and pressure is on Ten Hag to ensure they perform better this time around, especially after signing the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, although Alan Shearer still doesn't expect them to make the top four.

United will be without the likes of Yoro, Rasmus Hojlund, Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw for their curtain raiser against Fulham at Old Trafford this week, but Ten Hag insists he can put together a strong starting XI. He said: "It's not about the players who are not available. It's also what I said always last season: it's about the players who are available and we have a good group, we can make a strong selection."