Erik ten Hag has condemned the “mental errors” which contributed to Manchester United’s embarrassing defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday evening.
The Red Devils were ahead twice during the game at Old Trafford, but eventually lost 3-2 following a number of defensive lapses – including one from Andre Onana which resulted in Casemiro seeing red for a desperate challenge in the penalty area.
The loss was Man Utd’s sixth of what has been a wholly disastrous season thus far, and the club now sit rock bottom of their UEFA Champions League group after two defeats from their opening two games.
Speaking about the defeat to TNT Sports, Ten Hag was keen to call out the mistakes his players made on the night:
“The mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished. This is difficult to control. We are all in this together. We were twice up and in control of the game. We expect more together.”
One such mistake came from star man Marcus Rashford. With his side drawing 1-1 in the second half, the wide forward burst through one-on-one on goal but, instead of shooting, attempted a square pass to Bruno Fernandes – a pass that did not come off.
Ten Hag commented on the incident, saying: “That’s up to Marcus. In such a moment he has to make a decision.”
Despite the disastrous nature of the result, one silver lining from the game was the fantastic performance of Rasmus Hojlund. The new signing bagged his first brace for the club in very impressive fashion on Tuesday evening, and after the game Ten Hag praised the youngster’s performance:
“Rasmus scored two great goals. We’re happy with that but of course but we didn’t win the game. He can be really happy with his goals.”
Man Utd now face a double against Kobenhavn in Group A, and will be aiming for two wins which will bring them back into contention for qualification for the knockout rounds of Europe’s elite club competition.
