Ten Hag storms out of press conference

Erik ten Hag refused to comment on the possibility that Manchester United could record their worst ever finish in the Premier League era before walking out of his post-match press conference.

United are currently languishing in seventh place after failing to beat Bournemouth on Saturday evening. The 2-2 stalemate on the south coast means the Red Devils are now 10 points behind Aston Villa, who currently occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot.

It remains unclear whether Ten Hag, who has found himself under pressure at various points of the campaign, has a long-term future at Old Trafford now that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are in charge of sporting operations at the club.

And while Ten Hag has kept his cool in recent months, he responded bluntly to a reporter who pointed out United could record their lowest finish in Premier League history this year. “I don’t have to comment as it’s not relevant now,” he huffed before leaving.

Ten Hag has steadied the ship in recent months after overseeing the club’s worst start to a season in decades and United are still in with a chance of winning a trophy this year after booking an FA Cup semi-final date with Championship promotion chasers Coventry City.

But a string of underwhelming results in the league means United may not play in Europe at all next year – as well as the prospect of finishing below seventh for the first time in the Premier League era.

Ten Hag appeared to concede that United’s hopes of sneaking into the top-four in the final weeks of the season were dead after the match, although he refused to officially throw in the towel.

He said: “No, no, no, I am not saying it’s over. We will do what we can but I’m also realistic. When the full squad is there, I believe. This group of players available – you see our back four and that is telling the story. We know the demands.

“Harry Maguire was struggling in the first half but I couldn’t replace him as we’ve run out of centre-halves. In the first half, it’s true Bournemouth were better but the good thing is we came from behind twice. We showed good spirit

“I’m very long in football. We were motivated just not organised enough.” – Mirror