It all started with United coming from behind to overcome a spirited Lens side 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.
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Manchester United finished their pre-season duties with back-to-back friendlies, as the attention now shifts to the new season. It all started with United coming from behind to overcome a spirited Lens side 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday. A completely-changed United side followed it by taking on Athletic Club in Dublin the following day. Once again, the Red Devils went behind, however, they took advantage of the Spanish side being reduced to 10 men to get a late equaliser and share the spoils in an entertaining 1-1 draw.
Following the conclusion of the final pre-season fixtures, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was happy with the response the players showed when they went behind in both games. “We don’t give up. We fight until the end. Finally, we got the equaliser and I thought it was justified. We wanted a good result, to finish the pre-season well. We gave a stupid goal [away] and went down. It was a giveaway, but as a team we showed character and that’s what we need for the season,” he told MUTV.
Speaking about what changes were made to go against a 10-men Athletic Club side in the second half, the manager said, “It was a good drill, I would say. When you have the opportunity in pre-season, you have to take that opportunity when you are playing against 10. We put three at the back and put an extra offensive player in, in Noam [Emeran]. We go more direct and we created some good chances from it.”
Erik ten Hag feels that the experience which will be gained by the young players from these games will help them massively. “They deserve it, otherwise we don’t line them up. Of course, when you start pre-season, we have to give them an opportunity but then they have to take it. They are brave and that is what I like. Be brave, play football and show yourself,” he elaborated.
“If you want to play in the first team, you have to take responsibility in and out of possession and that’s what those guys are doing. I’m happy with their development. It’s games like this one, Dortmund, we had that game against Wrexham: it’s so valuable for their development for young players. From those games, they learn and improve a lot.”
Overall, ten Hag has been happy with how the weekend fixtures have turned out. “In one weekend, two times we are losing but you see this team have character and that’s what you need in a season as well. Sometimes you are down and then you have to show resilience and especially in such moments you need determination,” he added.
“We have shown that this weekend, it was a good weekend for us. Yesterday I thought it was a very good level, today I have seen also very good spells. I think the start of the game was also very good and we should have scored a goal to go up, because it was a great chance from Jadon Sancho. We had some good moments after that as well and it was stupid how we went down but as I said, we had a result and we came back so it was a good weekend for us.”
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