Erik ten Hag reacts to Manchester United’s 7-0 defeat to Liverpool

Add as preferred source on Google

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says he is ‘angry’ after the team lost 7-0 to Liverpool.

The boss was quoted by BBC Sport admitting this was simply not up to Manchester United’s recent standards.

The manager hit out at the performance as ‘unprofessional’ and criticised the lack of work rate from his players.

He also says he is confident the team will bounce back, pointing to the way he has led them back from poor displays in the past.

READ: Confirmed Manchester United transfers in, out, loan deals for January 2023

Erik ten Hag has his say

Erik ten Hag told BBC Sport: “I think we played a decent first half. One mistake in organisation just before half-time. Second half it was just not us. It was not our standards. We didn’t play as a team. It was unprofessional. Yes [I am angry]. Definitely.

“I am surprised because I have seen the last weeks and months this team is resilient and has a winning attitude. Second half we didn’t have a winning attitude at all. We didn’t stick to the plan and we didn’t do our jobs.

“We didn’t track back and it was really unprofessional. We have seen in the past we can bounce back. After Brentford, after Manchester City. This is definitely a strong setback and is unacceptable. I’m really disappointed and angry about it.

“It is a reality check. We have to take this strong.”

Ten Hag is right that this is a brutal wake up call for his side. One week ago we were celebrating Carabao Cup victory, while softly joking about the ‘quadruple’.

While technically possible, there is no chance of winning the title after this. United are too far behind, and most notably, simply not good enough.

Next up is Real Betis in the Europa League, followed by Southampton in the Premier League, with both games at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag is right that this was not up to standard, and the players cannot be complacent that they will bounce back, just because they did before. They have to put the work in, and fight a lot harder than they did in the second half at Anfield.