Man Utd head coach Erik ten Hag believes that sometimes the hairdryer treatment is needed to get a message through to the players. Following their humiliating 3-0 loss to Sevilla and elimination from the Europa League, the Dutchman is adamant that his team needs to learn how to bounce back when things go wrong in games. In the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Thursday, Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal put United behind after only eight minutes, and captain Harry Maguire’s error set the tone for a dreadful night in Andalusia.
“Yes, there are times when I can be really tenacious. Although it is a tool, timing is crucial. It’s important to understand when to use it. As a coach, you can select from a range of communication tactics, and this is one of them,” Man Utd head coach Erik ten Hag said. “You could tell [on Thursday] that I was enraged. For me, it was simply terrible. You must continue even if you make a mistake. We didn’t give it our all, and that’s what it takes to play in the quarterfinal of the Europa League.”
“That, in my opinion, is inappropriate for any club. In my capacity as manager, I cannot accept that my workforce isn’t giving everything they have. I made it quite plain to the players that I would never accept it,” he added. “They didn’t adhere to the standards set by the knowledgeable group I direct. I’ve heard from many experts and supporters that we’ve advanced and changed. Although as a team we have evolved, there is still work to be done. That much should be clear. It’s how we react in games when we lose. We must adhere to the plan.”
It brought to an end Ten Hag’s team’s abject collapse throughout the competition after they blew a 2-0 lead late in the first leg at Old Trafford to put themselves at a disadvantage going into the trip to Spain. The club has had trouble overcoming setbacks four times in recent weeks, including the first-leg surrender and Premier League losses to Newcastle and Liverpool, the latter of which was thrashed 7-0 at Anfield. Although it doesn’t matter if they can’t learn to recover in the moment, Ten Hag said he was impressed by his players’ capacity to recuperate between games. However, the United manager acknowledged he has had too many chances to remain with a winning recipe.
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