It’s proof once again that football goes fast, very fast. This Friday, Manchester United could boast of having in their team the best Premier League player of the month of November (Harry Maguire) and the best coach of the month of November (Erik ten Hag). However, neither could prevent the slap received by Manchester United, at home, against Bournemouth (3-0). While the Red Devils remained on 4 victories in 5 PL matches, they therefore stumbled on a bone this Saturday afternoon.
Once again, Bruno Fernandes’ teammates fell back into their trap. Less concentrated, less technically precise, Manchester United delivered a performance which is cause for concern a few days before the reception of Bayern Munich (who also conceded a very heavy defeat in the Bundesliga this Saturday) for an ultra decisive meeting in the Champions League . And after the meeting, Erik ten Hag once again pointed out the attitude of his men.
Bruno Fernandes angry
“You have to be at your best in every match, starting with concentration. When you start like we did, you get killed. They are good opponents but we have to do better.launched the Dutch coach at the microphone of the BBC before adding a layer. “I understand that the supporters are disappointed, frustrated. We all are, but, we should do better and we have to show it in every match – so as not to have such a high gap in level from one match to the next. We need consistency, we can play a very good match against many opponents, we are capable of doing it but we have to do it every three days. We need to adopt higher standards to play every three days.”
The former Ajax Amsterdam coach is not the only one to regret the involvement of his players. This is also the case for captain Bruno Fernandes who did not at all appreciate the face displayed by his team. “Today we underperformed. We simply lack consistency and that is an important aspect of football. It’s very important to be consistent in every game and we’re not. He missed a lot of things and that’s why the result is the way it is. When you play teams like Bournemouth, who are really aggressive, who press you, and you think it’s going to be easy, you get those kinds of results. We were off the mark at all levels today, technically and in terms of intensity. Bournemouth deserved to win. We should have done much better” the Portuguese international said coldly. With this new defeat, the 7th of the season in the league, Manchester United are in 6th place in the standings. Now on to the Champions League. But this poor performance does not seem to worry Ten Hag either. “We know we are capable of doing it, we showed it this week. We need to put this behind us, but we need to talk about it.”
