The application and attitude of Manchester United players looked all wrong during their defeat to Tottenham.
Erik ten Hag warned his squad that “only 100 percent will do” against Tottenham after fearing complacency in the midweek draw to Twente.
However, United’s players barely looked at 50 percent capacity as they slumped to a miserable 3-0 loss to Spurs at Old Trafford.
Micky van de Ven set up Brennan Johnson for the opener after just three minutes, but even an early goal didn’t wake United up from their sleepy performance.
Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a reckless challenge on James Maddison and if United didn’t stand a chance with 11 men, they certainly didn’t with 10. Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added to Tottenham’s lead after half-time.
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Christian Eriksen’s ‘unacceptable’ Man United comment
United headed into the Tottenham match on the back of two frustrating draws against Crystal Palace and Twente.
The Red Devils dominated both games but failed to turn chances into goals and good performances into wins.
After the draw against Twente, which included a worryingly flat second-half performance, Christian Eriksen made some “unacceptable” post-match comments.
He warned that Twente players “looked like they wanted it more” than United – a theme that was discussed in the dressing room after the match.
However, Christian Eriksen‘s warning seemed to fall on deaf ears as United once again put in an uninspiring and spiritless display against Tottenham.
Gary Neville flags Christian Eriksen comments after Tottenham loss
It is fair to say Gary Neville did not like what he saw from United against Tottenham – no supporter of the club did.
He labelled it a “disgusting” performance and slammed Marcus Rashford for being “rubbish” in the lead-up to Tottenham’s opener.
After the full-time whistle, Neville pointed to Eriksen’s comments from midweek and admitted he did not pay enough attention to it at the time.
Speaking on Sky Sports Premier League [7:09pm, September 29], Neville said: “The most worrying thing was, and maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to it on Wednesday night, was Eriksen’s comments around the fact that he felt that FC Twente wanted it more, that they were more hungry.
“That is a player that is in the middle of that dressing room I would suggest is very well respected by the rest of his colleagues and very well-respected by the manager, he is an experienced player who has played hundreds and hundreds of games at the highest level.
“And he is questioning the motivation and the attitude of his players.”
Eriksen’s comments give us a glimpse into the mentality of United’s dressing room at the moment, and it is simply not good enough.
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