Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has made a surprise admission about his squad ahead of the start of the Premier League season.
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The new English top-flight campaign commences on Friday night, and kicking off proceedings will be the competition's record champions as United welcome Fulham to Old Trafford.
Last season, the Red Devils suffered their worst-ever finish in the Premier League era when they completed the campaign in eighth position.
With a new season usually comes optimism, but United's manager has not given supporters much to be positive about following his pre-match comments.
The 54-year-old Dutch tactician has expressed his concern regarding his side's readiness for the start of the new campaign, with many of his first-team players either only recently returning from holiday or struggling with injuries.
"The team is not ready," Ten Hag conceded, as per the Daily Mail. "But the league starts. We can't hide from it. We have to deal with it.
"It's very complicated. [We had] the USA tour squad and then we added the players at Euros and Copa America, and now new signings, and we have to make a team from it."
The Mancunians completed the signings of Matthjis de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich earlier this week, and while they may perhaps have not had an adequate time period to familiarise themselves with their new teammates, Ten Hag also said the duo are in line to make their debuts against the west Londoners in light of their mini squad crisis.
"Issues are there," Ten Hag added. "But it's not about the players who are not available. Same as last season, it's about the players who are available.
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"We have a good group, we can make a strong selection and we can put out a strong team and we will do. They [Mazraoui and De Ligt] will be in the squad and Harry Maguire will be in the squad as well."
