The Dutch coach was fuming after his side’s latest pre-season loss (Picture: Getty)
Erik ten Hag has slammed his Manchester United players for their performance in Sunday night’s 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund and says they ‘did not follow the rules at all’.
The Red Devils took the lead in Las Vegas but conceded two quick-fire goals, both from Donyell Malen, on the stroke of half-time; the first featured some chaotic defending and the second saw Victor Lindelof pass straight to a yellow shirt on the edge of his own box.
United levelled the scores shortly after the restart through Antony but ended the match in lethargic and error-strewn fashion, with another poor pass – this time from Aaron Wan-Bissaka – allowing Youssoufa Moukoko to score a late winner.
The defeat is United’s third in a row, though they effectively played a youth team against Wrexham, and Ten Hag was extremely disappointed with what he saw from his players particularly in the second half.
Asked what he made of the performance, the Dutch coach told MUTV: ‘Two parts. The first hour was good, performed well, playing as a team, a lot of dynamism, good pressing, so it was really enjoyable to see and that is what I wanted to say to the team at half-time.
‘And then all of sudden they gave away two goals – and they were really giveaways! So that was already annoying.
‘But the last half-an-hour, that was bad. That was a poor performance. Didn’t follow the rules at all. Not in pressing, not in building up and not in attacking.
Dortmund capitalised on a number of errors from United (Picture: Getty)
‘So there were 11 individuals finally on the pitch and that wasn’t good at all.’
Asked if the tour has still been useful, he replied: ‘I think so. So the same thing I said to the team, I think it was a good tour but you want to finish with a good performance.
‘And you see only 60 minutes where I was pleased with it – but not with the goals we conceded, because that was really poor. First one really poor defending and the second one really poor in building up. That is not us.
More: Live News Updates
‘We have to keep the control and keep the responsibility on the ball. And it was the same for the 3-2 goal for Dortmund. So that can’t happen. It’s unforgivable, even if it’s a friendly.’
Asked by MUTV analyst Andy Cole if the long tour caught up with his players, Ten Hag replied: ‘But you play so long in top football! There are never excuses!
‘We have to perform no matter what. And then you have to be ruthless and win games because we are Man United and the fans expect wins from us.’
MORE : The snaps for Wildlife Photographer of the Year are in – and they’re majestic as hell
For more sports stories like this, check our sport page.
The Dutch coach was fuming after his side’s latest loss.
