Erik ten Hag honestly admitted that Manchester United are underperforming this season after suffering an eighth Premier League defeat of the season against West Ham on Saturday.

United travelled to the London Stadium buoyed by their recent goalless draw at Anfield in the match before and largely dominated the first half against the Hammers.

Alejandro Garnacho wasted chances for the visitors to take the lead, while the hosts struggled to get going in front of their home crowd.

Pressure is back on Ten Hag with the Red Devils heading into Christmas day eighth in the Premier League standings and more than 10-points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.

Erik ten Hag honestly admitted that his Manchester United side have underperformed this season

United succumbed to their eighth Premier League defeat of the season against West Ham on Saturday

The Dutchman enjoyed a stellar first season in charge of United, guiding the club to the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup, but the English giants have looked lost this campaign.

Ten Hag explained United are not currently reaching their expected levels and pinned a lot of the reason for his side’s struggles on long-term injuries to key personnel.

‘I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn’t take our chances. We should’ve gone in the lead but we didn’t and then it was one moment of switching off,’ Ten Hag told the BBC.

‘At this moment we are not top, but we have seen last week against the top of this league we were head-to-head,’ Ten Hag explained. ‘We didn’t score, we had the best opportunities of the game.

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‘There we defended very well for 90 minutes, that has to be always. In this moment we are underperforming. There are reasons for that. 

Jarrod Bowen continued his stunning goalscoring form for West Ham as they beat Man United 2-0

Ten Hag blamed some of United’s struggles on long-term injuries to key personnel. Both Mason Mount (left) and Lisandro Martinez (right) have been absent for games this season

‘We have many injuries so the team will be better if the injuries return so we have to stay calm, stick together, stick to the plan. We have to do it together,’ he added.

Injuries have been a constant issue for United to contend with this season, with Mason Mount, Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Victor Lindelof all long-term absentees, while Raphael Varane missed Saturday’s squad due to illness.

Some of the absent first-teamers are closer to recovery than others with Mount, Maguire and Martinez expected back in January.

However, United have also seriously struggled to score goals this season with their most recent defeat in the capital marking their longest run without a goal in over 30-years.