Any suggestions that Erik ten Hag has finally gotten through to his Man United players are way off the mark, if the latest reports are to be believed.
A four-game Premier League winning streak led to suggestions that Ten Hag had gotten his squad on the right track after a dismal start to the 2023/24 season.
However, United were brought back down to earth with a bump on Saturday, as Fulham got a deserved 2-1 win at Old Trafford, condemning the Red Devils to their 10th Premier League defeat in 26 outings this season.
After such a humbling result, you would think that the players would have wanted to get in early on Sunday, to review where it all went wrong and to ensure that such a dire performance wasn't going to happen again.
Not according to The Guardian, who have reported that some of United's players asked for a day off on Sunday, instead of going in for the usual warm-downs and video analysis.
"The request caused surprise given the insipid display and it being part of the manager’s normal routine," reports the publication. "It was rejected by staff, who reminded the players of their commitments, with Ten Hag thought to be unaware."
A late defeat at Old Trafford.#MUFC || #MUNFUL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 24, 2024
Man United boss Erik ten Hag hits back at Jamie Carragher over Fulham analysis
Meanwhile, Ten Hag has hit back at Jamie Carragher after the Sky Sports pundit provided in-depth analysis on Monday Night Football of United's poor display against Fulham.
During a lengthy segment, Carragher accused United of having "no pace at the back and a lack of legs in midfield," and added that "Manchester United defend like a team I've never seen before."
Ten Hag was clearly watching carefully, as he appeared to be prepared for a question about Carragher's analysis, when he turned up for his press conference ahead of the FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Erik ten Hag responds to Jamie Carragher's criticism after losing to Fulham at Old Trafford 😬#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/3jd4lI5yfe
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 27, 2024
"I was not pleased with the performance."
"First of all, some analysts are very objective in their comments, very good advice, some are very subjective," said Ten Hag.
"Jamie Carragher is one of them. From the first moment on, he has criticised and now he wants to make his point.
"Probably in the first half an hour [against Fulham], yeah, he had a point. Fulham in their midfield set-up a little bit surprised us and then we have to find the solutions. After half an hour we found the solutions.
"I was not pleased with the performance in defending, especially with the left side, how we did the pressing because they came out, especially in the first half an hour, several times on the left side and that can't happen.
"And that has everything to do with willingness, spirit and passion. That was in the previous weeks very good from this team and therefore we won football games.
"I know footballers are not robots, sometimes they have bad days. But it can't be, it's unacceptable and we have to do better tomorrow. But in the weeks before we have done very well."
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