“I am in this process, I’m only focusing on the process, so I don’t care what’s going on around me. I have had many talks with Sir Jim Radcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group.
“So I know where we are talking about and I have a strong belief and I feel that they believe in me. But I’m not focusing about my personal circumstances. I’m just focusing on the team and I have to find solutions for this team so that they perform the best way they can.
“It’s all about focusing on that and not getting distracted by any noise or whatever. I know what I’m doing. Consistently, we have had talks and we’re talking about the future together.”
On speculation over his long-term future, Ten Hag said: “That’s for you, for the fans to talk about maybe. If you talk about one defeat and the manager’s position is in discussion, I think it’s quite opportune after two months without a defeat.
“I can’t pick something from this, I can’t take it serious. I have to stay focusing again on the team and on the team’s performance.
“It would be a problem when the leadership in this group has this approach or internally, the others would have this approach [doubting him], but then still I focus on the process. But that’s not the case. We are together there.”
“Winning is normal here, that’s the difference. We have to win. Players have to understand this, managers have to understand this. I understand the criticism when we don’t win and take that the criticism is coming.
“But as I said, some opinions are true, but also many opinions are untrue. We don’t go into much. It’s about the truth we have in here. It’s our truth. That’s important and how we work together.”