Ten Hag: We are excited and together

We contested a couple of classic encounters with our Merseyside counterparts in the closing months of last season, when the home faithful inside the Theatre of Dreams created a raucous noise – notably in our FA Cup quarter-final win over Jurgen Klopp’s side, when Amad netted a crucial last-gasp winner.

A new era is now in store, however, as fellow Dutchman Arne Slot in the opposition dugout is set to get his first taste of this fixture, and Erik has been previewing the contest in his pre-match press conference.

Read every word from part two of the Dutchman’s media briefing below…

Erik, the club spent a sizeable sum this summer. Does that mean that it effectively makes this season no margin for error, it's got to be the top four, there can be no excuses for that? And what gives you the confidence that you can achieve that, beyond the fact that you've said in the past these are good players, but with respect, you said that last year and they didn't make top four. Why? What gives you confidence that it can be top four? And is there no margin for error given the money you've spent?

Listen, we won, the last two years, behind City, the most trophies in English football, so we performed already the last two seasons. And we are… Listen, listen, listen to me. That is the reality, they are the facts. And, yeah, also this year, we want to win and we want to win trophies. And so I'm quite confident we will build to this. And that is what I did the last 11 years. So just [be] patient, waiting. We will work on the process and we have to improve the process. And we will aim for our next targets and we will go for trophies.

Erik, the atmosphere at Anfield has always been famous for its intensity, but last year we saw Liverpool struggle with the atmosphere at Old Trafford when the momentum started to shift. Do you need the fans again on Sunday? Do you need them to turn Old Trafford into an extremely hot place?

I think that's often the case and I'm sure the fans are ready for it now, and the fans are ready together with us to take the fire, to take this good challenge, and we are all excited. Fans are excited, the team is excited and in togetherness. We will go for it.

Two years ago, Liverpool were also your third opponent. You'd lost your first two games, you beat Liverpool, and you gave quite a pithy response when asked how you managed to do that, because they could play some good football. Do you remember saying that, yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah, do you remember saying this? So two years on, do you think they can play even better football, do you think your team has progressed?

I am sure, and as I said, we not only progressed, also we won. We won trophies.

But in what way have they progressed though, in terms of style of play? Because there is still this ongoing querying of how your team plays.

But that is very subjective. So there is only one thing in football, that's about at the end of the season if you win prizes, trophies, or not. And I repeat myself, after City, we won the most trophies in English football.

Do you feel you haven't quite received the credit for doing that, for being behind only City?

I don't care if I get the credit or I don't get the credit. [What] it's about [is] I had to build this club. We brought young players in, we progressed young players, we won trophies. So what can I do more? As far as I know, the fans are happy with me. But it's not about me. It's about Man United. And, yeah, of course, we set higher targets and we are very ambitious. And the club, leadership, the team, definitely. So, yeah. everyone, they see the potential and now we have to work very hard to achieve the targets.

Erik, Harry Maguire got recalled by England this week. Obviously, you've got other good centre-backs, [Lisandro] Martinez and [Matthijs] De Ligt. Do you now see Harry as your first choice here?

So we have a squad who have more than 11, starting 11 players, and we need rotation throughout the season to keep everyone fit because no-one can play all the games. But Harry Maguire will definitely play an important role for us. And I'm very happy for him that he is back [for England] and I think it tells [us] something about his performances in the last couple of games.