Erik ten Hag: Manchester United players 'didn't run' against Tottenham
- Heinrich Griessel
- 26 August 2023
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has heavily criticised his team for the defeat to Tottenham.
Erik ten Hag slammed his Manchester United squad for their lack of effort and competitiveness during their 2-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday.
Despite having opportunities to score during the first half and heading into halftime with a level score, the Red Devils crumbled in the latter stages of the match, ultimately succumbing to goals from Pape Sarr and an unfortunate own goal by Lisandro Martinez.
This defeat followed a pattern familiar to United, particularly in away games, as their disappointing performance towards the end of the previous season jeopardised their pursuit of qualifying for the Champions League.
In anticipation of United's upcoming match against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, Ten Hag spoke to the media and left no doubt about his assessment of the team's shortcomings during the encounter with Spurs.
"They didn't run. They run in the wrong moments, too late - especially the front. They didn't recover. It happened, you can't turn it around. It's a demand here if you want to win games," said Ten Hag.
"For the first 35 minutes, we were so good in the game. We dominated totally. We should've scored minimum once, I think twice. They were nowhere, nothing. And then things happened in the game and they got distracted, not doing your jobs anymore.
"I'm not used to it from this team because they always do it. It's what the fans can expect and what we demand.
"Those games over the full course, we didn't match the standards. We beat Wolves, the first 35 minutes very good at Spurs. But the demand at United is you do it for 90 minutes every game no matter what."
