After Manchester United defeated West Ham to reclaim their spot in the Premier League’s top six, manager Erik ten Hag said that “you can see potential” in his players.
Alejandro Garnacho scored twice and Rasmus Hojlund made it four goals in as many Premier League games as the Red Devils won handily.
On the day he was finally able to choose from a nearly full strength squad, Ten Hag took some solace from their biggest home league victory of the year.
We're now on WhatsApp. Click here to join.
Ten Hag may lose that position for an extended amount of time due to Lisandro Martinez’s concerning knee injury, but after Hojlund scored the first goal on his 21st birthday and fellow rookie Garnacho added two more goals in the second half, the Dutchman was in bullish mood.
“I’ve seen every one of your pieces,” he told reporters during his post-game press conference. “You didn’t accept my words.
“We purchased players for the future in the summer, and I need to assess them calmly and clinically.
“You see potential, but I’m not saying we are where we want to be. However, you can only build on the potential in the presence of a team.
“I hope we don’t turn around because Licha Martinez is posing a threat right now. I hope they can all stay in good shape. Because everyone in this Premier League is killing everyone else, we can do a lot.
It was noteworthy that this was only the second occasion this season that Manchester United had won three straight games since October.
RELATED STORY: Fans upset as Lionel Messi, World Cup winner, doesn’t play in Hong Kong
For a West Ham team that drops to eighth, it was a case of what could have been.
A minute after Emerson should have equalised and following Garnacho’s goal, the Brazilian missed another opportunity, the home team scored their second.
Before Garnacho’s second goal confirmed West Ham would lose, Diogo Dalot dove in to make an incredible block after Jarrod Bowen broke away onto a long pass that dropped over Harry Maguire’s head.
With their FA Cup fourth round victory at Newport, Manchester United began a run of 11 goals in a week after scoring 10 in their previous 10 games.
