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Eric ten Hag says he doesn’t know if Anthony Martial will play again this season.
The boss was speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League clash Manchester United side and Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium and was asked about the delay in the Frenchman returning to fitness.
“I don’t know, he’s still with the medical, he’s out of the pitch but if he’ll be available, I don’t know,” he said.
Asked whether he fels let down by Martial because the team is short of goals, Ten Hag then became defensive, saying that his team had scored a lot of goals. When it was pointed out that they have a negative goal difference, he said:
“Yeah so first part of the season, we have a lack of goals but I think after the winter we improved a lot, I think from January on we scored in every game and also lately we scored more than one time in games.”
Pressed on the lack of support for Rasmus Hojlund, Ten Hag said:
“There’s no doubt that we counted on him, you need two strikers in the league we are in, and we play on more competitions, you need more options, you need double positioning in every position.
“In some positions we didn’t have the choices this season, the striker position, the left full back position, that has a negative impact on results.”
Asked if there should have been more fire power up front, he replied.
“So last season, eh we were even shorter. We came to the season very well. So for the plan with an extra striker who we signed, with Rasmus Hojlund, that should have been enough to cover everything.”
Asked how vital to get a proven goalscorer this summer for next season, he said:
“I think it would help, as I always had in this plan we constructed, we should have had enough goals, we count on Rashy, last season he scored 30, you count on goals from Martial, I have to point out in my first season he played very well, and also in very important games he had a high impact on our performances, and bringing Hojlund in, we should have had enough goals.
He was then asked, “Do you ever think when is my luck going to change”?
[Laughs] You have to be realistic. Being a manager is like being a ministry, you don’t have anything in your hands, but you are responsible for everything.”
“[The luck is] huge. A lot went against us this season. See all the penalties we conceded last week, they could have been going the other way. Sometimes you get one, sometimes you concede one, but this season, they all seem to be going one way.”
Ten Hag was also then asked whether he is concerned about the number of times late goals have been conceded, he said:
“There are many moments where we survived this season. Do your job, stick to your principles, you’ll survive these.”
More to follow …
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