“Not the standard for top football”: Erik ten Hag blasts his stars after uninspiring display in loss vs. Rosenborg

Erik ten Hag has slammed his stars for not meeting the standards expected of a Manchester United player following their drab 1-0 loss at the hands of Rosenborg in Trondheim.

Rosenborg hit the woodwork on four occasions before finally finding the back of the net in the 93rd minute through Noah Emmanuel Jean Holm.

United goalkeeper Radek Vitek came up with a number of fine saves and were it not for his heroics between the sticks, the result could have been much worse for Ten Hag’s men.

The Red Devils boss spoke to MUTV after the final whistle and reacted to his side’s anaemic performance against the 11th-placed team out of 16 in the Tippeligaen.

Ten Hag said about the scoreline, “The result is not secondary. But of course we play in pre-season, but at Manchester United the standard has to be winning games and definitely not to lose games. If you can’t win don’t lose the games but we did in the end, in the last seconds of the game. Of course the performance is more important but we know the performance was below [the] standard.”

“I think there was so many bad tackles in the first half. I thought they stopped really big opportunities when we were [looking] to [break] on the counter attacks. We got some big knocks but I think as I see now they will recover for training tomorrow.”

With regard to setting the standards at Old Trafford, the Dutchman said, “We can talk and make good on everything that was bad, but I am not that guy. I have seen that this is not the standard for top football. In top football we have much higher standards, as an individual you must make sure you are fit. I know you cannot be match fit in this moment, so we need these games to get there.”

“I know we are playing against players who are already going in their league, they have a much higher fitness level but still we are Man United and players from Man United should perform better.”

Ten Hag named only five senior members in United’s 25-man squad. He included Jonny Evans, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mason Mount, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford in his starting XI before making ten outfield changes in the second half of the match.

The 54-year-old coach praised the attitude of the youngsters despite the fact that they couldn’t beat Rosenborg as he insisted that they’re always looking to implement the instructions given to them.

There were a few new faces in the United coaching staff for the meeting vs. Rosenborg. For the first time, fans got to see the latest coaching arrivals Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar in the dugout.

Ten Hag opened up on Van Nistelrooy’s influence at United and what he can bring to the team going forward.

“He is a very ambitious manager and he has a great skillset as a manager, so he will help the team and he will help individual players. He will help the team in all the team functions with football, especially in attacking and pressing plays.”

United return to action on Saturday when they take on Rangers in yet another friendly.

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