Erik ten Hag lashed out at his Manchester United players, claiming “this is not the standard for top football”, after they started their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Rosenborg tonight.
Ten Hag fielded experienced quintet Casemiro, Marcus Rashford, Jonny Evans, Mason Mount and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the first 45 minutes before switching to a more youthful XI for the second half.
But only goalkeeper Radek Vitek emerged with any credit after making a string of brilliant saves that kept Rosenborg, who also hit the woodwork four times, out until injury-time when Noah Holm netted with the last kick of the match.
Ten Hag, who signed a new two-year contract at Old Trafford earlier this month after surviving an internal review from minority owners Ineos, was less than impressed and did not hold back despite his players clearly lacking fitness.
“The result is not secondary,” Ten Hag said, dismissing the suggestion from the presenter on MUTV.
“Of course, we play pre-season but at Man United the standard is you win games and definitely don’t lose games.
“So if you can’t win, don’t lose the game, like we did in the last second of the game. But of course, the performance is more important and the performance was below standards.”
Valuable minutes, but the boss is demanding more from the Reds 👊#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 15, 2024
Vitek stars to keep score down
Czech Vitek spent last season on loan at Accrington Stanley and certainly enhanced his reputation with his performance in Trondheim, although Ten Hag said his team-mates had given him plenty of chances to impress.
The Dutchman added: “Let’s say he got the opportunity from the team to make some very good saves because the performance from the team is, by far, not good enough.
“We can talk [about] everything that is bad, but I’m not that guy. I have seen and this is not the standard for top football. Top football, you have to achieve much higher standards, starts with any individual, make sure you’re fit.
“I know we can’t be match-fit in this moment, I know you need these games. The opponent is in the league, they have a much higher fitness level but we are Man United and players from Man United, a team from Man United, should perform better.”
