Ibrahim Oladamola
Erik ten Hag admits he is not afraid of using Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous ‘hairdryer’ treatment if it means getting his message across to his Manchester
The Dutchman insists his side must learn how to recover during games when things go wrong
“Sometimes yes, I can go strong in certain situations,” Ten Hag responded when asked if he has often referred to being stern with his players in a manner associated with the club’s most decorated manager.
“It’s a tool [to deploy] but it’s about the timing. You need to know when to use it. As a coach, you can pick many communication styles, and this is one of them.
“[On Thursday], you could tell I was really mad. For me, it was so unacceptable. You can make a mistake, but you have to carry on.
“For any club in my view, that is unacceptable. As a manager, I cannot accept that my team is not giving its best. I would never accept it and the players were made aware of this.
“They didn’t match the standards of a professional team I manage.
“I’ve heard from many experts and the fans that we’ve made progress and developed. We’re a different team now, but we know we have steps to go. That’s quite clear.
“It’s how we deal with setbacks in a game. We have to stick to the plan.”
Ten Hag said he was impressed by his players’ ability to bounce back between matches, and while it means little if they cannot learn to recover in the moment, the United boss conceded he has had too many opportunities to stick with a winning formula.
“We’ve had injuries and suspension in all departments so we’ve not been in a position to often do it.
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“When you play a lot of games and the load is getting higher, we need to rotate as you have to keep the players fit and fresh.
“You have to also take decisions based on a tactical approach for the next game, and this is harder when you miss players.
“You have to find solutions and right now we’re looking for the best solution. You have to look short term but of course the longer term as well.”
“Many of our players were present there, and then we had to play in the Europa League play-off round when we came back.
“I think we’ve played the most games of any team across Europe, but players are until a certain point capable. We have players in the squad who can handle the load of a number of games.
“We have to acknowledge that especially in the front line, we’ve had problems throughout the season. We haven’t had the numbers there.”
