ERIK TEN HAG slammed his Manchester United flops for showing a lack of fight and letting the fans down.
The Red Devils completely collapsed in Sevilla, going down 3-0 to lose their Europa League quarter-final tie 5-2 on aggregate.
Ten Hag said: “We have to face it that we let ourselves down and let the fans down and if you want to win trophies if you want to be successful you need character.
“Tonight was not good enough it was obvious, it was clear, we didn’t match the standards you can expect from a team from Manchester United.”
Ten Hag was asked if the most disappointing thing was the lack of fight in his team.
He said: “I have to acknowledge, it is the truth, it is hard, it is tough. It can’t be, it is unacceptable.
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“We have to start games better with more desire and when you get a setback you have to deal with it and carry on
“We have to be better and it is not about playing skills, it is about character and being composed and have desire and passion.
“We lost the battles, they had more passion, more desire, more willingness.
“It can’t be and I think it is unacceptable.
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“We can’t run away from it.
“This was a great opportunity, a great occasion, to win something and we gave it away – we have to blame ourselves. It’s gone, we can’t change it.”
United were behind when Harry Maguire lost possession and Youssef En-Nesri pounced after seven minutes.
The lead was extended two minutes after the break through Loic Bade before a David de Gea blunder as he miscontrolled the ball allowed En-Nesri a second on 81 minutes.
Ten Hag jumped to De Gea’s defence.
He said: “He is the one with the most clean sheets in the Premier League so it shows he is a very capable keeper.”
Now Ten Hag has a job on his hands to lift his players for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Brighton.
He said: “I had this question many times after City after Liverpool after Brentford and every time we bounce back and in that perspective we have character.
“We have very strong mental skills and in some occasions we are there but we have to accept now this is unacceptable.
“Everyone can see the demands and standards have to be higher.
“Against Nottingham Forest last Sunday we were composed we had the desire and here we didn’t have what you can expect from a player and a team from Manchester United.
“We need to do it consistently. Too often we have really poor performances and it can’t be.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
