Erik ten Hag explains why Man Utd were destroyed by Tottenham

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag blamed a lack of ‘belief’ after going behind early for his side’s 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

Ange Postecoglou’s side ran out undisputed winners on Sunday having put in one hell of a performance at Old Trafford, where the hosts had to play the second half a man down after Bruno Fernandes was sent off.

Tottenham took the lead inside three minutes when Micky van de Ven sprinted 70 yards right through United’s midfield and defence before squaring for Brennan Johnson to tap in. The Red Devils conceded an eerily similar goal in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Twente in the UEFA Europa League.

Speaking to BBC Sport after Sunday’s defeat, United boss Ten Hag criticised the mentality of his players after going a goal down.

“To concede a goal after two or three minutes like that, it did something to our belief,” he said.

“Totally unnecessary. To concede a goal like this, the [opposing] centre-half stepping in and passing the whole team over the right side and then the winger tapping in at the far post. Same mistake as in the midweek against Twente, it should be stopped in the first moment.

“From that moment on we were stressed on the ball. We could not find the triangles or the switches, we had some good moments, but from that moment we could not get a foothold. And we can do better than that. Even after such a mistake from us we should stay calm.

“We had chances and our moments to get back in the game, with Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho when we still had 11 players and then after the red card too we had moments.

“We had our chances before half-time and in the second half with 10 men we had chances as well. It definitely had an impact on the game. I don’t think it was a red card.

“First we have to deal with this and show resilience. This is not good enough. We have to accept this and get better. Focus on the next game and do things better than we did today.”