A poor start to the game followed by questionable defending over the course of the 90 minutes proved costly for the hosts.
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Manchester United were embarrassed at Old Trafford by a spirited Bournemouth side, as they registered a thumping 3-0 win in the Premier League at the weekend. That was a result not many saw it coming since United were the favourites heading into the contest. However, a poor start to the game followed by questionable defending over the course of the 90 minutes proved costly for the hosts, as the home supporters were left massively frustrated.
The disappointing fact was that Manchester United headed into this contest on the back of producing arguably their best performance of the season against Chelsea in a midweek Premier League win. “Yeah, of course, it’s disappointing. All the players, everyone is disappointed, of course. And me as well. We are together and all together, we are disappointed. It should not happen. And, yeah, we have to take the responsibility together,” manager Erik ten Hag told MUTV after losing to Bournemouth.
What the manager did not like was the poor start to the first half when the visitors had a penalty shout. However, it was turned down. Still, they went on to take the lead through Dominic Solanke in the fifth minute. “I think we didn’t start well and we already had a warning shot, when they almost had a penalty. That should have woken us up. But then we gave a goal away very easily. And then you make them big because they are a transition team and they defended very tough,” he explained.
“They go in the duels, they go one on one and it was very difficult then. I thought we played too but we didn’t have the brilliance in the box,” the manager added. Asked about being hopeful for the second half, he said, “Absolutely, because I thought we didn’t play bad in the first half. Apart from the defending in the build-up to what leads to the first goal. But I think we had some good attacks. But then the brilliance in the box wasn’t there.”
Manchester United have difficult games coming up against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Liverpool in the Premier League this week. “First, we have to put this in the right place. And of course we know what is coming up and we have to do things better. And as you said, the difference between the start against Chelsea and today was massive and that shouldn’t happen,” he explained.
Ten Hag once again expressed his frustration over the slow start, saying they cannot “start the game after five minutes,” as he also felt sorry for the supporters. “I feel sorry for them because they’re always behind us and they could expect more from us and we have to do it from the first whistle. And you can’t start the game after five minutes,” he stated.
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