Erik ten Hag claims Manchester United will improve when two players are available

Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United will improve when Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Martial are consistently available.

Martial started all five of the team’s pre-season friendlies but suffered a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid on 30 July and has missed nine of United’s 13 games through three separate absences.

Ronaldo did not take part in United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to a personal problem and played 45 minutes in the final friendly against Rayo Vallecano on 31 July.

Martial started only once and lasted 29 minutes in the game against Everton, where he was replaced by eventual match-winner Ronaldo.

The ability to score goals is increasingly worrying for United, who have scored just 13 goals in nine Premier League games and needed a 93rd-minute goal from Scott McTominay to beat Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League at Old Trafford last week.

The club are fifth in the league and one point away from qualifying for the Europa League last 16, but they are seven points behind third-placed Tottenham, who visit fourth-placed Chelsea on Saturday.

“I think that’s a good question,” Ten Hag said when asked if United could be better. “There are obviously a lot of problems and we have had to integrate a lot of players.

“We had to deal with offensive problems from the beginning – Cristiano Ronaldo was not available, Anthony Martial was not on the pitch and he has not played a full game so far.

“I’m sure that when this improves, with two fit and fighting number 9s, the team’s results will improve.

“I am a person who is never satisfied. I’m happy to be here, but I’m not satisfied with where we are, but I also know I’m looking forward to it. I think ‘good’ is not good enough, we have to do better.

“I see a lot of things that can get better, but I also see improvements, so when we continue this progress, we will get even better and I will be even happier.

“I think Rashy scored five goals out of 11, Antony didn’t play in the first three games but he scored three in his first four (league) games. Jadon Sancho has scored three goals, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored two goals, Martial, don’t forget: three goals.

“We have players who can be productive and, in fact, it’s not a real concern”.