In preparation for Saturday's encounter against Everton, Erik ten Hag urged his Manchester United teammates to always uphold our standards.
After losing on the road to Newcastle the previous weekend, the manager was happy with the Reds' response to return to winning ways against Brentford on Wednesday.
Erik is now urging consistency from his team as we welcome the Toffees to Old Trafford for the second time this season, following our home FA Cup victory against them in January.
“It’s about demands and so we have to match standards always,” he said in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “It is about culture, that you can only be a player for Manchester United when you match those standards.
“And you have to do it always – it’s not about [doing it] once, because players when you are not absolutely top, they can do it once.
“But for a player who is playing in the top [leagues], so competing for trophies, competing to win the Premier League; you have to do it always, [be] consistent.”
The Reds dominated the action in M16 with a polished team display, and Marcus Rashford scored the game-winning goal in the victory over Brentford on Wednesday.
On Saturday, the Reds will play Everton for the third time this year. They already defeated the Toffees at Goodison Park in October and advanced past them in the third round of the FA Cup. But this time, Sean Dyche is in charge of the Merseysiders as they arrive at Old Trafford.
“We have to do it every game and that needs preparation and it has to be the standard when you are playing for Manchester United,” the Dutchman added.
“This is the demand, no ifs or buts, you have to do it and take responsibility. A player has to deliver and be accountable.”
“[Sean Dyche] is doing a great job,” Ten Hag said of the Toffees' boss. “The [Everton] team is really fit.
“Their physical output is outstanding so we have to match that.”
The Red Devils manager as well gave injury updates on Christian Eriksen and Luke Shaw's fitness. The Dane isnset to return to the match day squad when Man United welcomes Everton to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon while Luke Shaw has been ruled out after he was substituted after just 35 minutes of Wednesday night encounter with Brentford.
"Luke Shaw is not available for tomorrow," began the boss. "And we have to see how it progresses in the coming week."
Ten Hag was delighted at being able to welcome Eriksen back to the team this weekend after initially fearing the injury was worse than anticipated.
"The good news is Christian Eriksen is back in training and he will be back tomorrow in the squad. I think it was not for nothing," he said of Eriksen's injury. "I was so angry about that tackle and he was away - at first we feared we had lost him for the whole season but he worked very well."
"I think the medical department did really well and in togetherness he is already returning to the squad and so is available for the final stages of the season. We are very pleased with that."
Casemiro will serve the final game of his four-game suspension elsewhere, therefore he won't be in the United lineup against Dyche's team.
Tom Heaton and Alejandro Garnacho are also out due to separate ankle problems, and Donny van de Beek will miss the entire season after undergoing knee surgery in January.
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