Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag admitted his side were very fortunate to beat Wolves 1-0 in their Premier League opener
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00:00 Congratulations on the win. Do you think you were a bit fortunate in the draw?
00:21 It was a tough game. A start is always difficult in this season, for every team. Today I think
00:31 we can be much better on the ball. We have proven that in the last season and also in
00:38 pre-season. But you see, pre-season is not season. When the league starts, opponents
00:44 are more aggressive. We have seen from moves that they were very aggressive. We were N
00:50 in our skills, we could be better in decision making. And then when we were in the battle,
00:57 we were not aggressive enough. So from that point of view, we can do a lot of things better.
01:02 But also I see many positive things from this. We had, I think, five, six, seven good and
01:09 high ball recains. And then we have to take more from the turnovers. And in the end, in
01:16 the low block, we fought for our lives and we survived it. So three points, well done.
01:22 You did lose your first two games last season. So how important is the victory, no matter
01:29 how it was achieved?
01:30 You have seen, even when you lose them, you can still finish good in the league. You have
01:37 to find a foundation in the season and therefore you have to collect points. If you want to
01:44 keep collecting points, you have to play better, as we did today. But as I say, there were
01:48 also positives. It's a defending organisation, a clean sheet, which is good. And the mentality,
01:57 keep going and keep believing in a win. And we found a way to win.
02:01 How are you? I'm fine, and you? I'm fine. I want to talk to you about the defensive transition. You said you wanted United to be the best transition team in the world. You talked about the speed going forward. But in terms of what you're looking for when you want to transition back, what exactly is the thing that you keep telling your players?
02:29 First of all, we have to move with the ball and be compact. Once we are compact, you have to be aggressive, to be in the fight, in the duels. So on that prospect, today we lost some fights. And then counter-attacks, you allow the opponent to counter-attack.
02:53 But luckily we defended the counter-attacks well, or we had Andre Unana, we had some very good saves.
03:01 What were your thoughts on Mason Mount's performance today?
03:06 I think he did his job. It was a moderate game. I think he did well.
03:17 You started without a recognisable striker, you didn't lose Anceli Martial, the goals come from a defender. Are you worried at all that there's maybe a lack of preparation, where you've not got that recognisable striker, and it was another game where goals were hard to come by?
03:36 I think we could have scored, touched on the 5-6 turnovers, and there were overloads. But I think the front line was not in the best form today, and they could have made more out of it from the overload situations.
03:57 Last week we scored some incredible goals, this week it's the form of the day. We didn't, but it will come.
04:06 The penalty looked like the referee was coming over to look at the screen, were you worried at all that VAR had given that?
04:28 Did you feel it was a penalty? Gary O'Neill said that Ounana tried to take his players head off.
04:38 I don't feel that I have to react to his interpretation.
04:44 You didn't think it was a penalty?
04:47 It's about the referee and the VAR. I think the two players from the Wolves came together. André didn't interfere with the action from both of them.
05:01 First was the touch on the ball, I think from Dawson, and then came André.
05:07 Thank you very much.
05:08 [end of transcript]
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