The Dutchman saw plenty of positives in his side’s win over Sheffield United (Picture: Getty)
Erik ten Hag has hit back at criticism of Manchester United’s performance in their 4-2 victory over Sheffield United, though he has warned Andre Onana and others that they must eradicate mistakes from their game.
The Red Devils fell behind twice at Old Trafford on Wednesday night against the Premier League’s lowest-ranked team, with Jayden Bogle opening the scoring in the first half after being gifted possession by Onana.
Harry Maguire levelled the scores shortly before half-time only for Ben Brereton Diaz to capitalise on some poor defending to fire the visitors back ahead just minutes after the restart.
But United showed their class and made their dominance count after going behind for a second time, with Bruno Fernandes netting a brace before setting up Rasmus Hojlund late on.
New technical director Jason Wilcox was at Old Trafford for the first time to watch the frenetic game, in which the hosts racked up 25 shots, and Ten Hag was not happy with a question at his post-match press conference suggesting the former Southampton chief may not have liked what he saw.
Asked what Wilcox would have made of the match and a supposed lack of control from United in it, Ten Hag hit back: ‘We were totally in control. I have seen a different game, sorry.
‘I think we have two give-aways, we were twice behind, losing the game, so we talk about two negatives – one focus, one indiscipline.
‘But for the rest I think we were totally in control but the team showed resilience. And it’s not easy when you’re losing the game especially against a compact team like Sheffield tonight.
Onana was at fault for Sheffield United’s opening goal (Picture: Getty)
‘But we outplayed them. We were calm, we let them run, we had many connections, we went from one side to the other side. Also defending we did well. We created a lot of chances.’
Asked if the mistakes are frustrating, Ten Hag replied with a warning to his players: ‘Yes, we have to stop this process. We can’t keep making such mistakes.
‘At the top level, if you want to achieve your targets, if you want to win trophies, then you have to stop this process.
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‘So we have to keep the focus, we can’t allow such mistakes, losing focus or indiscipline because you make your life much more easier when you don’t make such mistakes.
‘And you can see how the team is progressing, how many goals we’ve scored from January onwards. We’re so attacking, very creative, creating a lot of chances.
‘But defending stays always the most important fact in football. It’s also to do, of course, with our back four. We don’t have the routines, we spoke a lot about that, but it still doesn’t matter who’s there we still have to perform.
‘And I have to say, tonight the back four played very good.’
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