Erik ten Hag on David de Gea contract situation after West Ham error

Erik ten Hag has come out in defence of goalkeeper David de Gea following a costly error in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to West Ham United.

The Man Utd number one let a rather tame effort from Said Benrahma to nestle in the back of his net in the 27th minute of the game.

Said error, coupled with his woeful distribution all evening, has seen many Red Devils fans call for De Gea to not be given a new contract in the near future. Speaking in his post-match press conference however, Ten Hag disagreed with this sentiment, saying:

“Of course, we want him to sign a new contract. We would not be here in this position without him.”

90min reported at the end of April that Man Utd were close to an agreement with De Gea on a new contract with reduced terms. The Red Devils has held an option to trigger a one-year extension on his current deal, but were keen instead to reduce the goalkeeper’s £375,000 wage packet with a new, longer-term, contract.

Speaking in his post-match interview with BT Sport, the Man Utd continued his defence of the goalkeeper, saying that ‘mistakes are part of football’:

“Mistakes are part of football and in this team you have to deal with it and bounce back because it is a team sport. Over the season he is the one with the most clean sheets and also we did it as a team. It can happen, it’s football but everybody has to take responsibility.”

The defeat was Man Utd’s second in the space of four days away from home, with other coming on Thursday evening at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion. When asked about the general performance levels shown by his side at London Stadium, Ten Hag replied:

“First half, I think we played quite well and we created a lot of opportunities, but on the first occasion they scored a goal. Of course, disappointment with the result, same as Thursday [against Brighton]. We lost for ourselves and now we have one week, the first time since Christmas, we need energy because both second halves were below standards.”