Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for his so-called “hair dryer” which he used when he was angry, and Thursday’s game against Sevilla is probably one of those games where a hair dryer would have been used.
Eric ten Hag revealed in the second part of the pre-Brighton match press conference that he can get very angry.
— but it’s a matter of timing when to use it. The Dutchman said that as a coach, you can choose from many methods of communication, and this is one of them.
– I was so angry [på torsdag]. For me that was unacceptable. One can make a mistake, but one must continue. If you play a quarter-final in the Europa League, you have to give everything, and we didn’t.
– For any club or any team, this is unacceptable in my opinion. As a manager, I cannot accept that my team does not deliver everything. The team, the individuals… I will never accept that.
Then the players heard it in the Sevilla dressing room.
– Yes, of course, I told them about my analysis and how I felt about the match. They didn’t fit that standard of how to run a team in professional football.
Now awaits Brighton, a team that lost to United in the league opener in August.
Despite some brutal setbacks, Erik ten Hag is determined United as a whole have progressed since losing in August.
– We’ve grown and evolved – We’re a different team now. But we know we still have a lot of steps to take, it’s pretty clear that we’re talking after the loss in Sevilla, so it was very clear there, but also in some of the other games.
No team always plays at its best, but even if you don’t play your best, you still have to win. This is what we have to learn: how to deal with setbacks in the game, we have to keep going, we have to stick to the plan, stay in the game and keep our confidence. We have steps to take there.
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