Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has been proactive in making amends after his side were thumped 7-0 at Anfield on the weekend, adding to his players’ humiliation through various punishments
Erik ten Hag has dished out six punishments to his Manchester United flops since their 7-0 humiliation at Liverpool.
The Red Devils suffered their heaviest defeat since Boxing Day 1931 at Anfield on Sunday. After going into half-time only a goal down, the Dutchman’s side capitulated in the second as Liverpool began a never-ending onslaught.
It sparked an inquest by fans on social media and former legends-turned-pundits such as Roy Keane, who called out United’s senior players for their lack of leadership. But manager Ten Hag, being the disciplinarian he is, has already whipped his players into line with a handful of punishments.
Erik Ten Hag has made sure his Manchester United players will never forget their trouncing at Anfield (Image: Getty Images)
Press conference
Erik Ten Hag was brutally honest in his press conference (Image: YouTube)
Ten Hag did not hold back in his post-match press conference, slamming his players for not “fulfilling their jobs” or “sticking together”.
The head coach said: “It was a real surprise to me after halftime so quickly gave the game away. First two goals were two defensive transition moments, the first was a turnover, the second was a counter. Bad decisions. Decisions on the ball, that was on the first one, obviously.
“But how we anticipate, how we concede the goal is really annoying and then the third was a counter, also so unprofessional about decisions: following in, running in, moving forward, giving the space away in the back end of midfield, not tracking back; especially that one, not tracking back.
“Then it’s 3-0, the game is gone, as a team, you have to stick together and that is what we didn’t do. It was a surprise for me, I haven’t seen this from my team I don’t think it’s us, I don’t think it’s Manchester United. It’s really bad and poor.”
Sitting in silence
Man Utd stars were made to watch back clips of their errors (Image: PA)
According to The Mirror, Ten Hag humiliated his players further by making them sit in silence while listening to Liverpool’s ongoing celebrations in the dressing room next door.
The 53-year-old allegedly told his players to use it as motivation to ensure they never collapse as they did in the second half again.
The ‘hairdryer’
The Sun claimed Ten Hag evoked the spirit of Sir Alex Ferguson by giving his players the “full hairdryer treatment”. The manager was said to have been the angriest he has ever been.
In a rant that lasted several minutes, he stressed how the players must learn from the errors made during the battering at the hands of their rivals.
Threatening players
Man Utd players were threatened with being banished to the U21s (Image: AP)
Ten Hag took things up a notch further by threatening to send first team players to the reserves if they repeated their basic mistakes.
A source told The Mirror: “Ten Hag was obviously furious and told them they were lucky to be getting on the team bus back to Old Trafford and not made to travel back with the fans.
“He warned them all that if anything like that happens again, there won’t be another chance for them and they’ll be put in the Under-21s.”
Rise and shine
Man Utd were told to be at Carrington ready to train at 9am (Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)
According to The Mail, the ex-Ajax man went for the earliest ‘I’m so disappointed in you’ tactic in the manager’s handbook – by making his squad turn up bright and early at Carrington the next day.
In a bid to make things right, United stars were ready to train at 9am on Monday, where they were told the performance shouldn’t define their season if they are “hungry” enough to put things right.
Ten Hag was also reported to have shown the Red Devils players selected clips in a bid to make them “angrier”, as reported in the aforementioned Mail article.
He did not, however, show them the full match, believing they would benefit from extra sessions with Dutch sports psychologist Rainier Koers instead.
Source: dailystar.co.uk
