Erik ten Hag insists there are goals in his misfiring Manchester United squad, despite their latest blank in Saturday’s defeat at West Ham.
Second-half strikes from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus saw David Moyes’s side climb above the visitors and bounce back from their Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool in midweek.
United have now gone four matches without a goal, with Alejandro Garnacho guilty of missing a glaring chance with the scores still level at the London Stadium, but Ten Hag insists he still has faith in his forward options.
“We have players who can do it,” the Dutchman said. “They’ve proved in the past they can do it. But we also have to acknowledge the fact that we didn’t do it as a team. We have to take responsibility. Football is about winning games and scoring goals.
“They are capable of it. I know [Marcus] Rashford can score, [Rasmus] Hojlund can score, Garnacho can score, Bruno [Fernandes] can score, Scott McTominay can score. We have scoring abilities in our squad and also from set plays. At this moment we’re not doing it.
“They have to stick together and believe in themselves that they can do it. To get where you have to be to score and that is to get in the box especially in the double six-yard box, you have to arrive as a striker.”
Hojlund’s form is a particular concern, with the summer signing still yet to open his Premier League account and dragged off before the hour-mark at West Ham.
“I think he’s a very strong character,” Ten Hag added. “He can deal with that stress. I took him off, he was ill during the weak so had a little lack of power. I protected him. We have to play two more games this week. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we have to take responsibility.”
