Man United has scored 13 goals in nine Premier League games this season, and Erik ten Hag believes that will change once two players are consistently available.
Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United will improve once Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Martial are both consistently available.
Martial started in all five of the first team’s pre-season friendlies but sustained a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid on July 30 and he has missed nine of United’s 13 fixtures through three separate lay-offs.
Ronaldo did not travel on United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia due to a personal matter and played 45 minutes in their final friendly against Rayo Vallecano on July 31.
Martial has started only once and lasted 29 minutes at Everton, where he was replaced by the eventual matchwinner Ronaldo.
There are mounting concerns over United’s goalscoring ability as they have only tallied 13 goals in nine Premier League games and required a 93rd-minute Scott McTominay strike to see off Omonia Nicosia in the Europa League at Old Trafford last week.
United is a creditable fifth in the league and a point away from qualifying for the Europa League knockout stage but trail Wednesday night‘s opponents Tottenham, in third, by seven points and travel to fourth-place Chelsea on Saturday.
“I think that is a good question,” Ten Hag replied when asked if United could be better off. “There are obviously many problems and we had to integrate many players.
“We had to deal with problems offensively from the start: Cristiano Ronaldo was unavailable, Anthony Martial was not on the pitch and didn’t play a full game until now.
“I’m sure when that is better, with two No.9s present and fit in a good, combative shape, the results from the team will improve
“I’m a person that is never satisfied. I am happy to be here but I’m not satisfied where we are I also know that I’m impatient. I think good is not good enough, we have to do better.
“I see many things that can go better but I also see improvement so when we keep going with this progress we’ll improve more and I will be even happier.
“I think Rashy scored 5 goals out of 11, Antony wasn’t involved in the first three games but he has scored three in his first four (league) appearances. Jadon Sancho scored three goals, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals, Martial, don’t forget him: three goals.
“We have players who can be productive and as a matter of fact, it’s not a real concern.”
