Erik ten Hag felt the root of Manchester United’s problems against Tottenham Hotspur were more psychological than tactical, as they were beaten 3-0 by the north London side.
The United boss cited the visitors’ opening goal, scored by Brennan Johnson within three minutes of kick-off in front of the Stretford End, as a key moment, with the Reds struggling to produce an immediate reaction in the face of Spurs’ early dominance.
“It was clear we started the game very poor. After we concede the goal like we did in the third minute, and you are actually outnumbering [the opposition], and then concede a goal from a counter-attack where a centre-half is crossing the whole pitch and then bring, on the goalline, a cross in and then on the back post tapping in,” said Ten Hag.
“That was our game plan; we should protect that area very good in your best defence in the defensive transition, because we knew the strength and from that point on, we are very stressful in the game and in possession, we didn’t find the spare man in the switch, bad decision-making, we couldn’t keep the ball, not aggressive enough or to play around with third-man actions, too many ball losses and also we didn’t get the press right.”
On how United will recover from the defeat, Ten Hag said: “Of course, there’s always a new game, there will be a new day, and it’s also obvious. You have to learn as a team – it can’t happen in four days now, twice, [that] the defender of the opponent can dribble through the whole park without being stopped. Then things are impossible at top football, you can’t make such mistakes, so definitely, we have to address this. But we will bounce back.”