Man United locks out media representatives

Manchester United have denied four journalists access to Erik ten Hag’s press conference after reports the Dutchman is struggling with a broken dressing room at the Red Devils.

An Reporter Kaveh Solhekol (Sky Sports), Samuel Luckhurst (Manchester Evening News), David McDonnell (Daily Mirror) and Rob Dawson (ESPN) was refused entry to Manchester United’s Carrington training complex where Erik ten Hag addressed the media ahead of Wednesday’s game against Chelsea. The order came from United’s communications director, Andrew Ward.

In their report on Tuesday’s events they write Manchester Evening Newsthat Ward had prevented questions from being asked in previous press conferences because he perceived “negative coverage” of the club.

At the affected press conference, ten Hag said about the decision: “You should come to us first and not stab us in the back by printing articles, that’s not right. You can and you should come to us first, then we will have a normal and professional discussion and debate about it.

After a promising 2022/23 season which saw the club end their six-year trophy-less spell and finish third in the Premier League, ten Hag’s United had been expected to hit the ground running this season.

But the Red Devils have already lost 10 games in all competitions, sit seventh in the Premier League and are on the verge of group elimination in the Champions League, while they were eliminated in the fourth round by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.

How 90min We’ve learned that ten Hag currently has the full backing of United bosses and new minority investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who are focused on bringing stability and changing the club’s approach to transfer deals.

In a statement, United said: “We are taking action against a number of news organizations today. Not because they publish stories that we don’t like, but because they do so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to review them, comment, question or contextualize them.”

“We believe this is an important principle to defend and we hope it can lead to a rethink in the way we work together.”

United’s decision to exclude journalists from the press conference came after reports emerged of dressing room unrest, with Ten Hag reportedly losing the support of his players.

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