Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag on the Manchester derby against City, update on injuries and Bruno Fernandes
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00:00 Eric, is anybody who didn't feature last night coming back for this weekend?
00:05 And are Bruno and Varane okay after being doubtful for the game?
00:10 They fought to be part and they came well out of the game.
00:16 So I think they will be available for Sunday as well.
00:20 And for the rest, I don't think players will return for Sunday.
00:25 So we do it with the squad from yesterday.
00:27 Casemiro's goal and his passionate celebrations showed his winning mentality,
00:33 despite the fact he's won everything in the game.
00:36 Is that mentality going to be important for Sunday?
00:39 How important is he?
00:41 But that passion, desire, determination,
00:46 that is a base that definitely when you go in a game from Sunday.
00:53 Eric, when you look at the two squads at the moment and the players available,
00:56 you've obviously had an awful lot of injury problems.
00:59 You look at the form that City are in at the moment.
01:01 How do you convince your players that they can go to the Etihad and get a result?
01:05 Our form.
01:07 We are also in a good run.
01:09 And the spirit is very good.
01:12 We are united.
01:14 We are together now to make a good game plan.
01:18 We haven't done before.
01:20 And against City, lately against Liverpool.
01:25 So we will prepare well.
01:27 Players are ready for it.
01:28 Players are looking forward to it.
01:30 I can smell it when I'm around here, when I speak with the players.
01:36 So, yeah, really enjoyable.
01:38 Looking forward, excited.
01:40 But you look at the City line-up, do you fear what they've got?
01:43 Do you lose sleep over what they've got in their ranks?
01:46 They have a good team.
01:47 But they have more good teams.
01:50 But they have won in the last season.
01:54 So there's last year, everything.
01:55 So we know.
01:56 But that's the challenge.
01:58 But also Liverpool has a very good team.
02:00 And they have more good teams.
02:02 And we like such challenges.
02:04 We're looking forward to challenge with them.
02:07 Hi, Erik.
02:10 Sir Jim Ratcliffe talked last week about, in the future,
02:12 wanting to knock Manchester City off their perch.
02:15 Is this an opportunity for your team to make a statement and to show that you're not as far away as some people think?
02:22 So I think that has nothing to do with each other.
02:27 But we want to win every game.
02:29 That's always our mentality.
02:31 And that is always our approach in every game.
02:34 And so it doesn't matter who's the opponent.
02:37 But as I say, you always want to play against the best.
02:41 And so most of the times, we feel, and you can also see it,
02:48 that the opposition get their best outputs against Manchester United.
02:55 And maybe this game is the other way around.
02:59 But we know we have to give everything and show really a team performance if you want to get the result there.
03:10 But if you do it, it's possible.
03:12 That is also what the opposition shows in this moment against Manchester City.
03:19 What have you learned from your previous matches against Manchester City about the fundamentals of approaching a game against this team in great form?
03:27 We did it in several ways, and many ways to be successful.
03:35 So from all the games, we look back, we had had the opportunity to win.
03:40 We won one time, but you need a great day.
03:44 And that is also what we know.
03:47 So the players have to give the best performances.
03:49 You were very passionate last night in your defence of Bruno Fernandes, claiming that he'd been targeted by opponents.
03:58 Do you feel that he gets enough protection from officials currently, or do you think he needs more protection in terms of the treatment he receives?
04:06 He's a very passionate football player, and he's a very creative football player.
04:13 He's creating the most chances in the Premier League.
04:17 You see opponents are targeting him, especially after Saturday when he had had the knock.
04:26 They see it, and then I feel the refereeing should protect him.
04:31 They had the chance already at the start of the game because it was so obvious that they were looking for him.
04:37 Do you think he's developed unwittingly a reputation, unfair or not, for going down too easily?
04:44 Sometimes referees can be influenced by that and not give fouls when he has been fouled, for example.
04:49 That is your impression.
04:51 No, I'm asking you what you think.
04:53 No, it's your impression.
04:55 I thought it was definitely on Saturday, there was a foul, and it was really misjudged from media, from social media, to blame him for that.
05:08 That was my point yesterday.
05:10 Then opponents had been targeting him, and that's not right.
05:13 I think then the referees should protect him because there were fouls on him, even after the ball was kicked away.
05:20 Did it not help that Fulham sent out that video on their own TikTok site saying,
05:31 there was obviously a derogatory comment about Fernandes on there...
05:36 Please speak a little bit louder, I don't hear you.
05:38 Sorry, Fulham sent a clip of that video from the Fulham game, that incident where he got injured,
05:46 and obviously appeared to be mocking him over potentially diving, they felt he'd dived.
05:53 Has that helped to fuel the situation, has it drawn more attention to it?
05:59 I didn't know this, but if they did it, I would say it's not right.
06:05 It's absolutely not right that a club make such statements because it's totally out of order and they were wrong.
06:18 So they should apologise for this.
06:20 In terms of his determination and professionalism, how does he rank in terms of the players you've worked with during your time in football?
06:28 Highly, very highly. First of all, his football skills.
06:37 He's so creative and in that final third creating chances, absolutely key player, can score a goal.
06:46 But then also his outputs, his contribution in defending jobs and leading, reading the situation, reading the press,
07:01 but also be the example by running, running in the right moments and pointing players around him.
07:09 So he's absolutely a leadership by example.
07:13 We'll take one more in this section.
07:16 If you look at the Premier League and where you sit in the Premier League,
07:20 is this a defining weekend to know where exactly you're going to be come the end of the season?
07:26 No, because there are many more games to play and we are in the FA Cup and in a great game.
07:35 After City there are many more games and we know we have to catch up.
07:43 But also after that there's coming up more games to catch up and to catch in the right position.