Manchester United are still in the process of building their squad and have less depth than many of their Premier League rivals, manager Erik ten Hag said on Friday, as he blamed injuries for last season’s disappointing eighth placed finish.

In spite of rumors that he would be let go following a disappointing season—which they managed to salvage with an FA Cup victory toward the end of the playoffs—Ten Hag renewed his contract until 2026 earlier this month.

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He called a total of 61 matches for his club in all competitions last season “simply bizarre.”

“That’s really too much. We are not the only team that struggled with injuries, other clubs had the same,” he told the Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad on Friday.

“Last season we had constant injuries for players in the same positions, all at the back. At one point we had almost no defenders available.

“When we started here, United hadn’t won a trophy for six years and it really wasn’t because they didn’t have good managers here. It does say something about the composition and quality of the player group. I knew that when I started, of course, but they were players with long-term contracts.

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“We were and still are in that process [of building]. If you compare our squad with other top clubs in the Premier League, we are certainly a bit less in terms of depth. That is exactly why we found it so difficult to deal with those injuries.”