Erik ten Hag spoke of a willingness to fight for the club in his final press conference before being sacked as Manchester United boss.

Ten Hag’s tenure was ended on Monday morning with a 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Sunday proving to be the final straw for Sir Jim Ratcliffe. United are 14th in the Premier League table after nine games and have failed to win a single match in the Europa League – drawing all three fixtures.

Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, while United seek a permanent head coach. Ten Hag won two trophies in his two full seasons in charge at Old Trafford but results and performances have regressed. Here’s everything he said in his final press conference in charge:

“Now we have to show even more character,” he said.” If so much is going against us, we have to stay together, keep fighting and keep the spirit. When you are winning games, it’s a motivation, it is fuel to give teams confidence and a strong belief. Then you can make steps forward and now we go back and we have to deal with this disappointment and this frustration, but we will do. We are strong, the staff is strong, we will keep fighting for Man United and we will go again on Wednesday.

“I feel really compassionate for my players. They played so well, they fight so hard together, they are so determined to come into those situations and so not to kill them [West Ham, with goals] is very frustrating.

“Football is not always the best team winning. Today it’s very obvious and clear. Today we were far better than the opponent and there are two things: we didn’t score and it was a very poor decision from the referee – on-field and definitely also off-field.”

“I think we played very good football, the first hour it was really enjoyable to watch our team – so dynamic, so much variation, so creative, so many chances. That is the only thing we miss – killing in front of the goal. Sometimes you are in this pattern and you have to break the pattern but it will come because our players are clinical and they can be relentless in front of the goal, so it will come.”

On the penalty decision, he added: “Before the season, we got clear instructions [about] how they run the process and it was that they only interfere, the VAR, when it’s clear and obvious. This was not clear and obvious so the VAR should stay away from this, but then also the on-field referee took three minutes. It’s clear and obvious that, when you have to consider it that long, and when it has such an impact on the game, you should stay away from the penalty.

“The referee should take responsibility also. That’s the third time we really feel injustice and that is clear. With the Bruno [incident against Tottenham] they should have interfered. It was overturned, the red card, but what you can’t overturn is the score and the result. We didn’t get the chance to fight back against Spurs, but last week we turned the game and this week, just before [full] time, it has a big impact on our record in the league.

“Of course, we had to make some adjustments [in the second half] although I think we did quite well. When the game is going on, when you don’t score and the players go out of their positions, that is the next step we have to make. You have to keep calm and stay in your positions. You give them opportunities and we allowed them some, that was unnecessary. Keep calm in the game, with our rules and principles, and we go create more chances and win the game.”