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LONDON. — Manchester United players had reportedly spoken about the prospect of making a dramatic late fight for the English Premier League title in their “WhatsApp group” before being thrashed 7-0 in a humiliating defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag’s side had every right to be confident heading to Anfield looking for their first league double over Liverpool since 2016.
United had been keeping pace with both Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the table, keeping both within reach if either dropped points. Marcus Rashford’s incredible run of 10 league goals in as many games had United fans dreaming of a potential quadruple.
Their first trophy since 2017 was wrapped with a confident win over Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. And there was seemingly confidence among the United squad that winning the English Premier League title was more than just a pipe-dream.
According to the Daily Mail, United’s players had ”spoken about the prospect of catching the top two”.
But that feel good factor was dessimated in just a couple of hours after their humiliating defeat to Liverpool. Ten Hag is said to have demanded silence in the away dressing room in an attempt to rile up his players by listening to Liverpool’s celebrations.
There was reportedly a sombre mood at Carrington on Monday morning too with Ten Hag arriving “two hours earlier” than the players. Instead of choosing to punish his players by watching a full re-run of Sunday’s defeat, the United manager is said to have tried to “make them angry” with a selection of clips.
Now it’s up to United’s players to find a way to bounce back this week as they take on Real Betis in the Europa League round of 16 at Old Trafford. But Ten Hag admitted after the match against Liverpool that he didn’t want one result to upset what has otherwise been a strong season for United.
He said: “Many things made me angry. To concede too easily the goals was definitely one of them. I have had some bad days but there are days where if you do the right things and react with the right measures as a manager and as a team, then you can learn a lot from it and strengthen your mentality.
“We’ve had so many good results in the last weeks and months and so many good performances, but this was a really bad performance. But in the first half I think our time played really well and decent.”
As usual, mentality was at the forefront of his mind.
That is what Ten Hag will demand when United host Real Betis in the Europa League tomorrow, looking to put this darkest of days behind them.
Mindset matters more to him right now than any physical shortcomings, which wasn’t the case when United faced a similar inquest after a 4-0 defeat at Brentford in his second game in charge.
On that occasion, Ten Hag summoned his players on a day off and put them through a punishment run in the August sunshine for covering 13.8km less ground than their opponents. — The Daily Express
Online Reporter