Man Utd stars 'asked for day off and complained to staff' after losing to Fulham
Manchester United stars complained to Erik ten Hag's coaching staff after being denied a day off following their dreadful defeat to Fulham.
The Red Devils slipped to the loss at Old Trafford after Alex Iwobi's 97th minute goal. Even before that, Ten Hag's side were only heading for a draw against the Cottagers after Harry Maguire scored an 89th minute equaliser.
The defeat was the latest in what has been a miserable second year in charge for Ten Hag. They now sit sixth in the Premier League, eight points adrift of Aston Villa, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.
Ten Hag has developed a reputation for being a no-nonsense boss, especially after cancelling a day off in August 2022 and forcing his squad to run 13.8km following a hammering at Brentford.
That approach appears to be causing friction though, with The Guardian reporting that a number of United players asked for Sunday off following the defeat to Fulham. United usually spend Sunday's travelling to Carrington for warm-downs and video analysis.
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It is part of their regular routine, with the request to delay it causing surprise after their dreadful performance the day before. The request was unsurprisingly denied by the coaching staff.
Ten Hag is thought to be unaware of his squad's mood over their lack of a day off. United now face an FA Cup clash with Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, with that trophy now the only one the Red Devils can win this season.
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Boss Erik ten Hag is not thought to be aware of the request (Getty Images)Ahead of that crunch clash, the Dutchman has come out fighting with the pressure mounting on his job. He pointed to their previous unbeaten record in January and February, insisting the analysis after the Fulham defeat was an overreaction.
"When you are unbeaten for January and February and you lose one game… we know our aim is to win every game. As United, you have to win every game," the United boss said.
"Obviously, it was a poor performance, a poor defeat, we are aware of this, and we want to stay in every competition. So, on your first question, yeah, we have to win tomorrow. But that doesn't change our approach, because that is [the case] for every game.
"Fulham, in their midfield set-up, surprised us a little bit. We had to find the solutions. After half an hour, we found the solutions. And I was not pleased with the performance in defending, especially over on the left side.
"How we did the pressing because they came out, especially in the first half an hour, several times over on the left side. That can't happen. I know footballers are not robots, sometimes they have bad days. But it can't be, it's unacceptable and we have to do better tomorrow."
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