Ten Hag lodges Man Utd 'kill' request

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 24 Sept 2024 15:35 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has admitted that his side need to “kill in the box.”

The Red Devils have racked up the third-highest xG tally in the entire Premier League (9.5) so far this campaign, but they have only scored five goals and currently find themselves down in 11th place.

Due to their lack of finishing touch, Ten Hag’s side have only amassed seven points from their opening five games and they are already six points behind league leaders Manchester City.

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Ahead of Man Utd’s Europa League clash against FC Twente on Wednesday, Ten Hag was asked about his side’s relative inability to finish off chances so far this season.

In response, the Dutchman admitted: “We created a lot of chances in the first games of the season and last week we scored seven against Barnsley, so we are capable of scoring many goals.

“But it’s a part of the game we have to improve and we have to kill in the box.

“There are different aspects of this. The most important thing is you create chances and we create a lot of good moments, we are very creative, we have many opportunities to score goals, keep this process going and finishing to work on.”

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Man Utd’s goalscoring woes

Man Utd’s lack of clinicalness has been spread around their forward line, with Bruno Fernandes, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho all in the top seven Premier League players for xG underperformance so far this season.

Rasmus Hojlund made his first appearance of the campaign off the bench against Crystal Palace and the Dane’s absence through injury has been sorely felt during the opening weeks of 2024-25.

Hojlund netted 10 goals in 25 Premier League starts last season and although Zirkzee’s all-round game has impressed since his summer move from Bologna, the Netherlands international is yet to establish himself as a reliable goalscorer at Old Trafford.