Erik ten Hag has called on his high-profile Manchester United players to step up against Porto tonight and haul the team out of its current crisis.
Ten Hag's job is on the line after a poor start to the season which has left United down in 13th place in the Premier League after six games. United have been hammered 3-0 at home in successive league games by Liverpool and Tottenham, and made a meek start to their Europa League campaign, drawing 1-1 with FC Twente at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag's side take on Porto away tonight, in a game the United boss knows he cannot afford to lose, followed by a trip on Sunday to Aston Villa, who are coming off the back of an epic Champions League win over Bayern Munich.
Against that backdrop, Ten Hag agreed he needs his most high-profile, experienced players, like skipper Bruno Fernandes, striker Marcus Rashford and defenders Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs De Ligt, to stand up and be counted against Porto tonight.
“Everyone has to take responsibility and that starts with me as a manager,” said Ten Hag. “But of course it's also on the pitch, with the players you mention, but maybe also others who have leadership skills.
“They have to stand up and every game is important for us. We know every opponent is always 100 percent motivated, so we have to be ready as a team and as individuals, to compete and to fight with them.
"Then you need some leaders on the pitch who can guide the process in any game.”
Ten Hag also claimed he does not need reassurances from United's football executive team over the security of his position, insisting he is on the same page as the hierarchy, who acknowledge the long-term nature of the rebuilding job he faces.
“We talk every day and we are on a common journey, an agreement we made in the summer. We had the discussion, we had the review, we made our decisions, we refreshed and we reset the staff,.
“I appointed my assistants, I appointed the staff, but it was a collective process. We refreshed the squad as well, with players we know have high potential, who can be really good for us in the future as well, because this club wants to be back on top and there's a project, a long-term project, and we set the target to be back over several years to be champions.
“It's a long-term journey, we went in the boat and we met on the same page in the summer, so we will keep going in the process and we will talk every day. Every day we will evaluate, review the process where it's necessary, and we will make our decisions.
“It's not important what's external, it's only important what's internal, and internally we've just be dealing with the defeat to Tottenham and nothing else.
“It's not necessary [for the club hierarchy] to give me confidence, because we are only talking about how we can improve. We talk every day about how we can improve this group, this team, how we have to cooperate, how we can improve the processes, how we can improve the relations and the connections, that is what we're talking about.
“On Sunday, the players were lacking belief, but I have seen so many games, also this season, where we have been completely confident. I see the games we played against Manchester City in the FA Cup final and the Community Shield, and you see this team has such a great belief in the plan and in each other, so there's no doubt - but it's a challenge every time.
“We know this is a very good team, with good players and they have a good plan, so we just have to go out and play very good football to get the right result here.”