Ten Hag slams Man United players for 'not running' in Tottenham defeat
Erik ten Hag slams Manchester United players for ‘not running’ in their 2-0 defeat by Tottenham and demands more from his attacking talent against Nottingham Forest
- Erik ten Hag has criticised his Man United’s players for their workrate last week
- The Red Devils boss also refused to discuss the future of Mason Greenwood
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Erik ten Hag sent a stark warning to his Manchester United squad by demanding more accountability from players who ‘didn’t run’ during last weekend’s defeat at Tottenham.
The United manager, who refused to discuss the jettisoned Mason Greenwood during his first media appearance since the forward was told to leave the club, is still irked by United’s failure to string 90-minute performances together.
Ten Hag’s ire was largely directed at the attackers — Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were his forwards against Spurs — but no one was spared criticism. United covered a total of 68.6 miles in north London last weekend, compared to Spurs’ 71.5 miles — a quarter of a mile further per player.
‘They didn’t run,’ said Ten Hag. ‘Or they run in the wrong moments, too late — especially the front players. It’s a demand here if you want to win games. For the first 35 minutes, we were so good in the game. We dominated totally. We should’ve scored a minimum once, I think twice.
‘They (Spurs) were nowhere, nothing. And then things happened in the game and they (United players) got distracted, not doing your jobs any more. I’m not used to it from this team.
Manchester United were outrun by their Tottenham counterparts in last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat
Erik ten Hag slammed his team’s perfomance against Spurs and said it was not acceptable
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‘I told them that it isn’t acceptable. We have to work as a team with togetherness and everybody individually has to take responsibility. We need accountable players. The team is not where we need to be.’
Ten Hag’s captain, Bruno Fernandes, received public backing from his manager after he demanded an apology from the officials for not awarding United a penalty against Spurs for handball by Cristian Romero.
Ten Hag claimed the complaints were ‘justified’ and suggested that referees chief Jon Moss had not apologised — as he did to Wolves boss Gary O’Neil a week earlier after another gaffe.
United have been sidetracked by injuries, with Luke Shaw and Mason Mount both out of Saturday’s home game against Nottingham Forest with muscle problems.
Mount will be out until the international break at least, while Shaw is set for an extended spell on the sidelines. Shaw’s understudy, Tyrell Malacia, is still undergoing lengthy rehabilitation on a knee issue.
Summer signing Rasmus Hojlund is still unavailable, although he has started first-team training. Ten Hag wants a review into the spate of injuries.
‘It’s up to us to do research, to find reasons, and maybe you can learn from it for the future,’ he said.
‘If there are opportunities (in the market) then yes, but it has to be the right player otherwise we have to deal with the current squad. We went through scenarios before the season and if it happened, we have the solution.’
Ten Hag also backed his captain Bruno Fernandes after the midfielder demanded an apology from the officials for not awarding a first-half penalty for handball against Cristian Romero
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