Mikel Arteta talks Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United

Mikel Arteta has backed Erik ten Hag as an “excellent manager” 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 are many doubts over whether he will keep his job at the end of the campaign.

Manchester United sit eighth in the Premier League after a 4-0 hammering at Crystal Palace last time out and face a tough test against Arsenal on Sunday, with the Gunners needing a win to return to the top of the table.

Arteta is very secure in his job at the Emirates and, when asked about Ten Hag’s future, hopes the Dutchman avoids resignation, 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 is 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 hard it is to prepare against him, so I have a lot of respect for him.

“I hope so, he has time because we are colleagues and we know how tough it is in this league and what the margins are and yes, I hope so because I think he is an excellent coach.

“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’re on and that’s certainly what we’ll be trying to do on Sunday.

The Ten Hag has consistently defended his questionable record at Manchester United, highlighting the huge amount of injuries the team has suffered during the campaign.

Asked if he was worried about his future, he said: “No. (the owners) have common sense.

“You see when we have 32 different back lines, we’ve used 13 centre-half partnerships, when they see we don’t have a left-back, I know that’s going to have a negative impact on results.

“It’s a massive FA Cup final (coming up with Manchester City). We are happy to be there. It can be a highlight for this season. We know the reasons we perform are because of injuries. No team is going to perform when you have so many injuries in key areas.’

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