Defiant Ten Hag insists Man Utd still going in right direction despite Fulham setback

ERIK ten Hag boldly insisted Manchester United remain “in the right direction” but there was enough evidence in this, a 10th Premier League defeat of the season, to suggest that Jim Ratcliffe’s prediction that he will need three years to turn around the club’s fortunes are wildly optimistic.

There were alarm bells all over the field throughout what was just Fulham’s second Old Trafford win in 61 years and, while the absence of key injured stars Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw was obviously to be taken into consideration, ten Hag knows he has some pressing issues that need to be dealt with long before the passing of that unofficial three-year milestone.

Looming above all is the status of £86 million Brazilian misfit Antony who “celebrated” his 24th birthday by being unceremoniously ignored by his manager and left on the bench on Saturday.

To make matters worse, his place went instead to 19-year-old Omari Forson, who had a grand total of seven minutes of first team football to his name before Fulham’s visit and who was so underwhelming he was replaced well before the hour mark.

Not for Antony, though. By the time the United substitute was told to warm up by ten Hag, we were well into the nine minutes of added time and, by the time he entered the fray, his side had conceded the winning goal to Alex Iwobi and there were 55 seconds left in proceedings.

If none of this was a surprise, that was probably the most damning commentary on Antony’s fall from grace this season and his snub by ten Hag, in a game in which United needed a win to maintain their Champions League hopes, told its own story.

In his first season in England, a return of four goals and two assists in 25 appearances, including two off the bench, was hardly the stuff