Erik Ten Hag Frustrated by Costly Error in Manchester United’s 1-1 Europa League Draw with Twente
Erik Ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, vented his annoyance after his team’s Europa League opening against FC Twente ended in a disappointing 1-1 tie due to a defensive error by Christian Eriksen.
Ten Hag was frustrated by his team’s inability to win even though United had taken the lead through Eriksen’s goal in the first half. Eriksen’s error allowed Twente to equalize.
Erik Ten Hag, who played three stints at Twente before serving in various coaching roles, spent a total of twenty-three years there. He said, just before kickoff, that “it’s not nice to have to hurt something you love.”
After a costly error by Christian Eriksen condemned Manchester United to a 1-1 draw against FC Twente in their Europa League opening on Wednesday, Erik ten Hag blasted his team. Eriksen’s goal in the 35th minute gave United the lead, but at Old Trafford, the Danish midfielder gave Twente their equalizer in the second half.
In the 68th minute, Sam Lammers took Eriksen’s dangerous turn under pressure and blasted past Andre Onana. Ten Hag, the manager of United, insisted that the team as a whole must accept responsibility for their inability to maintain the lead rather than singling out Eriksen.
“At 1-0 up, we managed to keep them in the game. To maintain control, one must remain steady and persistent.” We conceded the goal and reduced the level in the second half,” Ten Hag remarked.
“We didn’t finish it off, we had to go for the second goal and so they stay alive and we get punished with a mistake from ourselves.”
Ten Hag continued, pressing Eriksen’s error: “The goal is (a) team (fault), a Twente player may dribble over the pitch without stopping. This is no way to give away a goal.
“We have witnessed once more that you must continue playing the entire game; if you are ahead 1-0, you must press for the second goal. Since it’s the first game, winning is crucial.”
Ten Hag, who played three spells at Twente before serving in various coaching roles, spent a total of twenty-three years there. He said, prior to the game, that “it’s not nice to have to hurt something you love.”
Rather, the discomfort was caused by the Eredivisie team, with assistance from another erratic United performance following their poor goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Eriksen questioned whether United had enough ambition in their performance after their dismal European campaign resulted in just one victory in nine games.
“I believe that we were primarily disappointed as a team because we expected much better in the end. They appeared to want it more, which couldn’t be correct,” Eriksen remarked.
Everyone is a professional football player, so they know what to do and what can’t happen, therefore I believe that everyone is only looking at themselves. It seems like a loss even though we don’t lose.”
It was another depressing beginning for United in European competition after they placed last season’s Champions League group bottom with only one win. On Sunday at Old Trafford, Ten Hag’s struggling club will play Tottenham again.
They play Porto in the redesigned Europa League first round before going up against Jose Mourinho’s former team, Fenerbahce.
