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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag told Red Devils stars that they were lucky to be travelling back to Old Trafford on the team coach and not with the fans during a furious dressing room rant following his team’s shameful display against Liverpool at Anfield. And the Dutchman also warned his squad that they’ll be sent to play for United’s under-21s side if they capitulate in the same manner again.
The 13-time Premier League champions suffered their joint-heaviest defeat of all time on Sunday as they whimpered to a 7-0 reverse against last season’s Champions League runners-up. United and Liverpool were evenly matched for much of the first half on Merseyside but fell behind two minutes before the interval as Cody Gakpo struck the opener.
Darwin Nunez doubled his team’s advantage two minutes into the second period, with Gakpo adding another just moments later. Nunez got his name on the scoresheet for a second time either side of a Mohamed Salah brace, with Roberto Firmino wrapping the game up with a seventh goal in the 88th minute.
And afterwards, Ten Hag made his players sit in silence in the Anfield dressing room after the match so they could hear the Liverpool team going crazy as they celebrated their victory in their own changing room. The former Ajax manager told his stars to use it as motivation to ensure they never surrender so meekly ever again.
And Ten Hag refused to pull his punches. “Ten Hag was obviously furious and told them they were lucky to be getting on the team bus back to Old Trafford and not made to travel back with the fans,” a source said. “He warned them all that if anything like that happens again, there won’t be another chance for them and they’ll be put in the under-21s.
“Ten Hag doesn’t want the players going back to the bad days of last season, so that’s why he wants them to work more with the sports psychologist.”
United players are now expected to have more sessions with sports psychologist Rainier Koers following his appointment a few months ago. Ten Hag places a huge emphasis on the mental aspect of football and brought Koers to Manchester after deciding that his players needed to possess a stronger mindset.
United players were hauled into United’s Carrington training complex on Monday morning to face the consequences of their diabolical performance against the Reds. Ten Hag and his staff had arrived two hours earlier as the inquest into the defeat got underway.
The United manager conducted a video analysis with his management team to get to the bottom of the result as they plot a recovery, starting this Thursday in the Europa League against Real Betis.
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