Devesh Kumar
Club News: Erik ten Hag encouraged Manchester United player’s dressing room meltdown
Erik ten Hag ‘encouraged’ Manchester United player’s dressing room meltdown after their derby defeat against Manchester City last week.
United simply had no answer as Pep Guardiola’s side ran riot at the Etihad last Sunday in their 6-3 win against their neighbours, courtesy of a Phil Foden and Erling Haaland hat-trick.
Ten Hag called his players for an analysis of the performance the next day, but things got heated and passions are said to have ‘boiled over’ in the heart-to-heart conversation.
Lisandro Martinez and Scott McTominay were said to be the most vocal among the players. Both of them had started the game, but struggled throughout, especially the former.
A source told The Sun that Ten Hag asked each player to explain their mistakes and explained what went down in the room among all the players and the coach.
“Ten Hag asked each player one-by-one to explain their mistakes to one another. Some players were blaming others for not covering, which led to full blown arguments. It all got smoothed over but tensions are high. Ten Hag actively encouraged it. He’s told them he wants to see that level of passion on the field, not after the game has been put to bed.”
As long as the players cool down afterwards and don’t hold grudges, then venting in such an open, unfiltered manner does have its pros. However, Ten Hag must be careful if he does tread this line of allowing players to speak their mind so freely, as alleged above, in the dressing room.
The result of this meltdown was clear in their last game. United showed a fighting spirit and won their match 3-2 against a tough Omonia side in Cyprus last Thursday. The Dutch boss will expect that fighting spirit to continue in their next game.
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United will travel to face a tough Everton side later tonight. While the Red Devils could be considered favourites on paper, things tend to change on the field. Fans would hope that a win brings back their team on the right track but given the game is at Goodison, we can’t take anything for granted.
