Erik ten Hag said Manchester United players lacked desire and let the supporters down in their dire 3-0 defeat to Sevilla. United were ejected from the Europa League at the quarter-final stage in a 5-2 aggregate thrashing having been 2-0 up after 80 minutes in the first leg at Old Trafford. Individual errors from Harry Maguire and David de Gea were punished by Youssef En-Nesyri in each half of an anaemic performance against the six-time winners. De Gea was also slow to react to Loic Bade’s header. United were without first-choice centre halves Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes was suspended while Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford started on the bench but Sevilla are a lowly 13th in La Liga. When asked if some of the United squad members are not good enough,
Erik Ten Hag replied: “I think they showed in the past they can (be) but tonight we were not good enough. Was obvious, was clear. We did not match the standards you can expect from a Manchester United team. I have to acknowledge (a lack of fight). It’s the truth. It’s hard, it’s tough. It’s the truth. It can’t be. It’s unacceptable. We showed in the past we can quickly bounce back. We have done it many times this season but we have to start games better; more desire, more composure on the ball. When you get the setback you have to deal with it and carry on. It’s the truth that we have to be better and it’s not about playing skills, no. It is about character. So be composed, desire and passion. They had more willingness to win, it can’t be. I think it’s unacceptable.”
Although United have had a progressive campaign under Ten Hag they have also suffered defeats reminiscent of some of the thrashings they received last season. United were battered 4-0 by Brentford in August, 6-3 by Manchester City in October and Liverpool annihilated them 7-0 last month. Ten Hag bracketed the Sevilla loss with those losses.
Erik ten Hag said: “I had this question many times, after City, after Liverpool, after Brentford, and every time we bounce back. This team has character and mental skills but sometimes we are not there. I think we have to accept that now but it’s unacceptable, everyone can see the demands and standard has to be higher in a club like Manchester United. We have to pick them up. We also have to face that we let ourselves down, we let the fans down, if you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need character.”
United’s away form is so problematic they have taken a paltry eight points from a possible 27 against the teams they have faced in the top 12 teams of the Premier League. Five of their six league wins have been against the bottom five.
Erik ten Hag said: “Sunday, we can do it. We have seen against Forest and we were composed, we had the desire. Today, we didn’t. So you can expect from a Manchester United player and team, you do it consistently, now isn’t too often but a really poor performance and can’t be.”
