‘Angrier’ – What Erik ten Hag told the Manchester United dressing room after Newcastle defeat
After Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park on Sunday, Erik ten Hag, the team’s manager, told his players that it was unacceptable that Newcastle appeared to be more aggressive than them.
Joe Willock and Callum Wilson scored goals for the Magpies, putting them in third place in the table ahead of the Reds, who are at risk of dropping out of the top four if Tottenham, who have played two more games, defeat Everton on Monday night.
United’s failure to score in their last three Premier League games has put them in a tight battle for a top-four position, and their last league victory was four matches ago in February.
In their previous encounter in October, Newcastle and Manchester United played to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford, and in the Carabao Cup final in February, United emerged victorious with a 2-0 scoreline.
Ahead of their most recent match, Erik ten Hag had acknowledged that Newcastle would be seeking revenge, but he was shocked by his team’s failure to respond to this challenge.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live, he said: “I said after the game in the dressing room, ‘It can’t be that the opponent is angrier than we are’. The race for the top four is going to be a fight, and you can only win that when you match the desire and passion of the opponent.
“Setbacks always you have to deal with, we have to leave this behind and only take the lessons from the determination, about the passion and desire.”
During his press conference following the match, Erik ten Hag provided a similarly harsh evaluation of Manchester United’s level of competitiveness during the full 90 minutes.
He added: “They were more determined, more aggression and more desire, in many situations on the pitch and then you can’t win games. I was surprised that we couldn’t match the determination and the passion of the opponent.
“And I think you know before when you travel to St James’ Park and Newcastle what will be going on, especially after we won the cup. So if you want to win big games you have to be mature and I didn’t see that today.”
‘Angrier’ – What Erik ten Hag told the Manchester United dressing room after Newcastle defeat
