Sunday, December 29, 2024

Ruthless Erik ten Hag hammers Man Utd players after losing pre-season opener

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Manchester United travelled to Norway for their opening game of pre-season against Rosenborg, and Erik ten Hag was far from impressed with what he saw

Erik ten Hag giving an interview(NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Erik ten Hag laid into his Manchester United players for falling below the standards he expects after losing their opening pre-season game.

United conceded in added-time to lose to Norwegian side Rosenborg, with Ten Hag unimpressed with the performance level of his players.




“The result is not secondary,” said Ten Hag. “Of course, we play in pre-season, but at Manchester United the standard has to be winning games and definitely not to lose games. If you can’t win, don’t lose the games, but we did in the end, in the last seconds of the game.

“Of course, the performance is more important, but we know the performance was below the standard.

“We can talk and make good on everything that was bad, but I am not that guy. I have seen that this is not the standard for top football.

“In top football, we have much higher standards, and as an individual you must make sure you are fit. I know you cannot be match fit at this moment, so we need these games to get there.

“I know we were playing against players who have a much higher fitness level but still, we are Manchester United and players from Manchester United should perform better.”

Watching on from the stands were new CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox, with new coaching duo Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake involved in their first game.

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