Erik ten Hag defends his Man Utd flops after Champions League humiliation

12 December 2023 , 22:42

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Erik ten Hag defends his Man Utd flops after Champions League humiliation

Erik ten Hag defended his Manchester United players after they slumped out of Europe with a 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich.

United came into the game knowing they had to win and hope Copenhagen drew with Galatasaray, but they never looked like fulfilling their end of the bargain. They managed just one shot on target as Kingsley Coman's goal saw them finish bottom of Group A with a meagre four points.

Ten Hag's side have now lost 12 of their 24 games this season in all competitions, with seven of those coming at Old Trafford. But the Dutchman was insistent on taking the positives from yet another disappointing night.

"We didn’t lose it today, that’s clear," he told TNT Sports. "We had good performances but then also we made mistakes. Some individual errors from some players and it wasn’t good enough. But today, the performance was very good and I thought we didn't deserve to lose.

"I think they showed enough effort out there, the team did very good. We were very good in the pressing, in the defensive organisation and we had many ball recoveries especially in the second half.

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"But we didn’t take the benefits from that and we played against a strong side. Bayern are a good team and even when they’re not in the game, they have to just use one moment of individual class and that happened today.

"We know we want to be more consistent and that’s down to me as a manager. I have to guide them and the players have to take the responsibility so we have to do that together."

Kingsley Coman breezed through the United defence to score the game's only goal (PETER POWELL/AFP via Getty Images)

Asked about the lack of options on the bench, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial both unavailable through illness, Ten Hag replied: "The players gave everything, that’s clear. You saw the spirit and I really have to credit the team for the way they worked together as a team against a good Bayern side and the energy, you need it from the bench. For the frontline, those options were limited."

Luke Shaw stung the hands of Manuel Neuer with a drive from distance in the first half and Bruno Fernandes fired a good chance over the bar from Aaron Wan-Bissaka's cut-back in United's only clear-cut chance.

Harry Kane's post-match thoughts showed how comfortable Bayern felt at Old Trafford. "It was nice, I felt like we controlled the game, had a majority of the possession," he told TNT Sports. "United had a little bit of the ball but we were always calm and we knew in the transitions that we could always hurt them and that’s what happened."

Oliver Jones