Aheed Abrar
Erik ten Hag brands performance of Manchester United against Manchester City as ‘unacceptable’
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has branded the team’s performance against Manchester City as “unacceptable”. The Red Devils were resoundingly beaten by their fellow Mancunians in blue.
United had been on a four-game winning run before coming up against City at the Etihad Stadium. The Old Trafford side had shown character after a bad start to the 2022/23 season. However, against the Sky Blues, the old frailties were on show.
Speaking after the 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s team (h/t Mirror), Ten Hag felt the players lacked self-belief. And the Dutch manager was surprised by what he saw out on the pitch.
“It was a lack of belief. I’m surprised why we didn’t bring that on the pitch. I have seen a different team, a different spirit and a different fight… We were not brave in possession. It is always difficult to find out.”
Phil Foden opened the scoring with Erling Haaland doubling City’s lead against United. And the Norwegian and English forwards both got on the scoresheet once again before half-time. The Red Devils went into the break 4-0 down.
United’s performance in the second half was somewhat encouraging. Antony managed to peg one back for the Old Trafford side. However, Foden and Haaland managed to get on the scoresheet once more to complete their hat tricks.
Ten Hag labelled United’s display as undesirable. The Dutch manager felt the Red Devils made a lot of errors in the game, which ended up costing us in the Manchester derby.
“I will show the team that we could have been front-footed. We win the ball then give it away for the first goal. We take wrong decisions in the transition afterwards. We don’t follow the rules so we are undisciplined. It cannot happen. It is unacceptable.”
Anthony Martial came on in the 59th minute for Marcus Rashford. The French attacker got two late goals, but they were nothing but consolations for the Red Devils.
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Ten Hag decided to go with the same team that started against Arsenal. And United seemed to set up in a similar fashion, looking to play on the counter. However, while it worked against the Gunners, City were too much to handle for our players.
The Red Devils cannot let this setback slow them down. United have eight more scheduled fixtures in October. Hopefully, we are able to bounce back once again, as we did after the Brentford game.
