Manchester United are preparing for the resumption of club football with a mid-season training camp in Spain, with Erik ten Hag’s men scheduled to play Real Betis before heading back to Manchester.
The game against Manuel Pellegrini’s men will be the second against La Liga opposition, with the first game against Cadiz ending in a 4-2 defeat for the Reds on Wednesday evening.
Ten Hag named a strong line-up for the game, with several first-team senior players featuring. Obviously, the Dutchman is still without the bulk of his squad due to their involvement in this winter’s World Cup.
Cadiz took a shock two-goal lead within 15 minutes and United were immediately pegged back. They did, however, claw themselves back into the game and managed to get back on level terms through Anthony Martial and Kobbie Mainoo.
The hosts quickly reclaimed their advantage and added another goal late in the game to claim a famous victory over United. Speaking after the game, Ten Hag delivered his verdict.
“It’s quite clear we were not awake, we were asleep in the first 15 minutes. They were a threat in transition. In the second goal we were not awake, a bad rest defence — especially in the midfield, we got ran off. It’s not possible, unacceptable,” Ten Hag told MUTV, via UtdDistrict.
“The first goal as well, a set play, bad organisation and discipline; you concede a goal. After that, we came in the game, but couldn’t make the equaliser before half-time.
“They gave energy. They run and fight, maybe not always in the right organisation. They make mistakes. It was a good lesson, they see that small mistakes have big consequences.
“We are unhappy with this game. Of course, you always have some positives even when you lose, but today there are more negatives.”
SN’s verdict…
Ten Hag made 10 changes at half-time and it goes without saying that the result is insignificant – the main objective of the friendly is to get everyone back up to speed ahead of a raucous fixture schedule when club football resumed later this month.
He will, however, not have been happy with the slow start to the game and perhaps that’s something he will need to address privately before the friendly against Real Betis.
