Erik ten Hag was disheartened by Cristiano Ronaldo at Villa Park. On a day when Cristiano Ronaldo led the squad for the first time under him, Erik ten Hag criticized Manchester United’s performance in their 3-1 loss to Aston Villa and questioned the tactics, decisions, and attitude of his players.
After watching his team break the rules in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Aston Villa, Erik ten Hag referred to Manchester United’s strategy of crossing from deep for Cristiano Ronaldo as foolish. Ten Hag said, “No, I think it was stupid to do that. When asked if he had encouraged his players to look for the head of the 37-year-old striker to assist bring him into the game.”
We delivered crosses in from too far and too rapidly, he continued. And so we don’t assist him. The crosses must be introduced at the appropriate time. I believe we brought the crosses in too early in the second half as well. In the first half, Christian Eriksen was in the right place at the right time to pass the ball to Cristiano at the far post. That time was appropriate.
Long before that, in Unai Emery’s debut game as manager, United had already given up twice, giving the ball back to the Spaniard’s team. Although Bruno Fernandes was greatly missed, Ten Hag did not see this as a reason for his team’s poor performance. Although I don’t feel that way, Bruno Fernandes is a crucial player. To win this game, the players currently on the field are crucial. We will win this game if they play to their absolute potential, with passion and determination, while adhering to the game’s rules and fundamentals.
When you lose a game at the beginning of the first half and the beginning of the second half, you lose the game. Even the magnificent free-kick from Lucas Digne was insufficient for Ten Hag to defend his players. Since the ball is too far from the wall, I believe the free kick can be stopped. Okay, so it’s a minor detail, but in the best football, minor details matter.
It contains every detail about us. That standard was, in my opinion, one of our best. We have played well in all of the games so far and are truly on the offensive. And we weren’t today. We lost our battles because we didn’t play by the rules when defending. We were optimistic before halftime that we could turn this around before we scored the goal and got back into the game. Everyone left the game with that mindset, yet we conceded the game just as quickly in the second half as we had in the first.
Donny van de Beek made his first Premier League start of the season, but it was hardly Ten Hag’s first-choice lineup. When you are playing with ten other people, it is never easy. I believe that as a whole, we gave a poor performance. Marcus Rashford, who was moved to the right wing in Antony’s absence, was unable to build on his previous success. Ten Hag said that it was not his best performance.
He is allowed to play there. If you look at his statistics, he performs virtually equally well in all of the front positions. But in my opinion, Rashford is best served as No. 9 or coming out on the left. However, because of issues in our front line, it was the best balance for this game. Although his manager acknowledged that he wasn’t the first choice for the position, Ronaldo was the striker and the captain, donning the armband for the first time under the Dutchman.
Our captain Bruno is out, Harry Maguire is on the bench, and David de Gea is the issue. Although the goalkeeper is far from the outfield, he acts as a leader. The leader Casemiro is not fluent in English, despite being the leader. Cristiano is a leader, especially as the team’s captain, and it is obvious that he is the guy.
The loss, United’s first setback since the derby loss in early October, brings to an end a nine-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. Although I am disappointed, I am aware that the procedure will not be completed. We must prepare for setbacks because they will occur, continued Ten Hag. I’ve been playing football for a while. Humans are not machines. Sometimes, things just are. Don’t get me wrong; it is psychological, but it is still unacceptable. Every time we play, we must be prepared and not let the game slip away so quickly.
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