Ten Hag slams "poor performance" in "unforgivable" Man Utd defeat

Manchester United did not manage to end their USA pre-season tour on a good note, defeated 3-2 by Borussia Dortmund in Washington D.C. The loss meant they came out the losers in three out of their four pre-season games in the States, and the final nail in the coffin for manager Erik ten Hag was their "poor performance" on Sunday night.

Sloppy defending got the better of the Red Devils, as the Germans were handed their second goal, and wasted a possible third off a defensive slip from Harry Maguire. For the Dutch manager, it was "unforgivable".

 "There are no excuses", he said following the match. "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 are expecting from us wins".

"The first goal  was really poor defending and the second one really poor in building up, and that is not us", he continued. "We have to keep the control and you have to keep the responsibility on the ball and it was the same on the 3-2 for Dortmund, so it can't happen and it's unforgivable even if it's a friendly".

Although the manager started the match with an XI made up almost entirely of reserves, it was the final half hour that particularly frustrated him once he'd brought on more of his regular starters, which he labelled simply "a poor performance".

"The last half an hour was bad, a poor performance. We didn't follow the rules at all, not in pressing, not in building up and not in attacking, so there were 11 individuals finally on the pitch and that wasn't good at all", he finished.

 

July 31, 2023