A delighted Erik ten Hag praised Manchester United’s attitude in their emphatic 2-1 win against Liverpool and predicted his side are better.
United were unrecognizable from the crowd as they were beaten 4-0 at Brentford and had not picked up a point from their opening two games.
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After recent pre-match protests against the Glazers’ ownership, Old Trafford saw goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford only to be answered by Mohamed Salah’s late consolation.
Ten Hag said: “We can talk about technique, but it’s all about attitude. Now you see that we bring the attitude. There was communication, there was fighting spirit and above all there was team, and you can see what they can achieve. Because they can play good football.
Speaking to Sky on their live broadcast, Ten Hag apologized for swearing but admitted he was pleased with his players’ response.
“Sorry, I wanted a different approach to the Brentford game,” said the Dutchman. “That’s why I’m satisfied. We can play much better if we have more composure to make an extra pass. We have good players, but now we can be a team.”
Ten Hag dropped Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire from his starting line-up but said both could still play a role. New signing Casemiro was introduced before kick-off after the Real Madrid midfielder’s transfer was confirmed and Ten Hag indicated that United will still look to strengthen further ahead of the September 1 deadline.
“Casemiro, Varane and Ronaldo have won trophies and will guide the younger players, I hope their presence will be a big boost for the rest. We want to bring in the right players, not just any player, but the window is not closed. We need numbers and quality,” he said.
Jürgen Klopp’s side are yet to win this season, but the Liverpool manager denied any underlying concerns. “We don’t have a problem,” he said. “We’re in a tricky situation, injury-wise, we got through the week with 14 or 15 senior players available and now we have to make sure they don’t get injured. We should have won that game, I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how I saw it.”