Manchester United beat Liverpool 2-1 and took a step in the right direction. Coach Erik ten Hag spoke afterwards about the importance of team spirit and revealed why Harry Maguire stayed out.
In the summer, everything was still going well from Manchester United’s point of view, especially the good preparation gave hope – among other things, Liverpool were beaten 4-0 on ten Hag’s debut as United coach. But then things got serious and the Red Devils got off to a terrible start.
A 1-2 defeat to Brighton was followed by a 4-0 loss at Brentford. “The first two games went in the pants – and clearly,” ten Hag said on “Sky” after the much-celebrated 2-1 triumph over Liverpool FC. Especially the game in Brentford had made the coach angry, as he openly admitted.
The reason: In Brentford, the running performance was not right at all. “If you don’t run, you can’t win a game. With the ball, without the ball, you have to run. If an opponent runs much more and has more will to win, then I can’t cope with that. That’s not my team then – and they have to understand that,” said the 52-year-old, who was now satisfied with the performance against the Reds, however.
As punishment for the poor start, the team had running sessions. A measure that seems to have worked, if you look at the willingness to run against Liverpool: After a manageable 95.6 kilometres at Brentford, United reeled off 113.8 kilometres against their arch-rivals. “The mentality was excellent today,” ten Hag praised his charges, stressing that team unity “is always the basis to win games. “
Besides the good team spirit, other aspects were also important, such as the good organisation. United were well-positioned, hardly conceded a goal at the back and managed to keep Liverpool’s top-class attack in check. One reason for this was Raphael Varane, who surprisingly replaced captain Harry Maguire in the starting eleven and did an excellent job.
Varane’s performance, however, does not mean that the Frenchman is now a permanent fixture in the back four. “Some positions we have double-teamed, like in central defence,” ten Hag explained, stressing that the line-up could be different again next week. Because: “The intensity in the Premier League is brutal, we have to give a player a break sometimes. Like Maguire today. “
