Mikel Arteta has a lot of respect for Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag (Picture: Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta has backed Erik ten Hag as an ‘excellent coach’ and hopes to see the Dutchman stay on as Manchester United manager next season.
Ten Hag is under a lot of pressure as Red Devils boss and there is plenty of doubt over whether he will hold onto his job at the end of the campaign.
Manchester United sit eighth in the Premier League table after a 4-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace last time out and have a tough test against Arsenal on Sunday, with the Gunners needing a win to return to the top of the table.
Arteta is very firmly safe in his job at the Emirates, and asked about Ten Hag’s future he hopes that the Dutchman avoids the sack, rating him highly as a coach from his time at Ajax and now in England.
‘I can only talk about what I think about him as a coach. He’s an excellent coach. I admire his teams, both Ajax and United,’ Arteta said of Ten Hag.
‘I know what he’s trying to do, I know how he does it, I know how difficult it is to prepare against him, so I have huge respect for him.
‘Hopefully, yes, he gets the time because we are colleagues and we know how difficult it is in this league and what the margins are and yeah, hopefully that’s the case because I think he is an excellent coach.
Erik ten Hag will aim to ruin Arteta’s title push on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)
‘If you want to win the Premier League and big trophies, you have to go to these grounds and impose yourself and beat them. That’s the journey we are on and that’s for sure what we are going to try to do on Sunday.’
Ten Hag has consistently defended his questionable record at Manchester United, pointing to the huge amount of injuries the squad has suffered over the campaign.
Asked if he is concerned about his future, he said: ‘No. The [owners] have common sense.
‘You see when we have 32 different back lines, we’ve used 13 partnerships in centre half, when they see we don’t have a left back, they know that will have a negative impact on results.
‘It’s a huge FA Cup final [coming up against Manchester City]. We are happy to be there. It can be a highlight for this season. We know the reasons we are underperforming is because of the injuries. No team will perform when you have so many injuries in key areas.’
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