Erik ten Hag was unhappy with some Manchester United players for now following his rules in the second half against Borussia Dortmund.
Most managers use pre-season fixtures to get more minutes on the clock for their players, with everything pushing to prepare for the upcoming campaign. Ten Hag demands that as well as positive results to create a winning culture.
For that reason, the United manager wanted a response from his team after losing against Real Madrid last week. He didn’t get one as Borussia Dortmund beat the Reds 3-2 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
United took the lead after 20 minutes thanks to Diogo Dalot, but two quick-fire goals from Dortmund swung the tie in their favour at the break. Six minutes after play resumed in the second half, Antony equalised for United but sloppy defending meant it was only a matter of time before the Germans took the lead again.
Ahead of the team’s return to the UK, Ten Hag spoke to MUTV after the match and made it very clear he wasn’t happy with the players who featured as substitutes in the final 30 minutes.
The manager explained it’s unforgivable not to follow the manager’s rules, even in a friendly.
“Yeah, [the game was] two parts, the first hour was good, playing as a team, lot of dynamic, good pressing,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “So it was really enjoyable to see and that’s what I wanted to say at half-time, but all of a sudden, they give two goals away.
“They were giveaways and that was annoying. But the last half an hour, it was bad, a poor performance. They didn’t follow the rules at all, not in pressing, not in building up or when attacking. They were 11 individuals on the pitch.
“That wasn’t good at all. I said to the team, I think it was a good tour, but you want to finish with a good performance and there was only 60 minutes that I was pleased with, but not with the goals we conceded because the first one was poor defending and the second one was poor in build-up.
“That’s not us, we have to keep control, keep responsibility on the ball and it was the same for the 3-2. That can’t happen and it’s unforgivable, even if it’s a friendly.”
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