Erik ten Hag has ripped into his players following Manchester United’s defeat to Rosenborg in pre-season.
Premier League giants Manchester United kicked off their pre-season campaign against Danish side Rosenborg. They fielded some experienced players such as Casemiro, Jonny Evans, Mason Mount and Marcus Rashford while a few fresh faces including Radek Vitek and Ethan Williams were also involved. The Red Devils lost 1-0 with what was virtually the last kick of the game, sparking a frosty assessment from Ten Hag post-match.
Speaking to MUTV, Ten Hag said: “The result is not secondary. Our performance as a team is by far not good enough. This is not the standard for top football. We can’t be match fit at this moment. They have a much higher fitness level but we are Manchester United we must perform better.”
Many fans will say the result is irrelevant in pre-season, but as Ten Hag pointed out, a team like Man Utd should always be pushing to beat the opposition. The performance will not paint a picture of how the Red Devils will set up when the season starts, but the Dutchman was clear that there are still a significant number of improvements to be made.
Man Utd will continue their tour ahead of the 2024-25 campaign on 20 July with a trip to Murrayfield to face Rangers. After that, Ten Hag and Co will head to the US to play Arsenal, Real Betis and arch-rivals Liverpool.
