Erik ten Hag responds to “subjective” remarks from Jamie Carragher
Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has responded angrily to Jamie Carragher’s “subjective” criticism of his strategies after the team’s 2-1 loss to Fulham.
Carragher challenged United’s setup at Saturday’s Monday Night Football on Sky Sports.
Ten Hag stated the former Liverpool defender has been harsh “originating from the first moment” even though he “had a point.”
“Some experts are very objective in their remarks, very good suggestions, some are very subjective,” Ten Hag added.
Jamie Carragher has been critical from the start and is now trying to make his point.”
Carragher had highlighted how United “supports like a side I haven’t witnessed before” by employing a highly aggressive press and low defensive block, which created enormous openings in the center of the pitch that Fulham took advantage of to win just twice at Old Trafford since 1963.
Ten Hag stated: “He did have a point, perhaps in the first thirty minutes. Fulham’s midfield configuration caught us off guard, so we needed to come up with some answers. It took us thirty minutes to figure out the answers.
“They came out multiple times on the left side, particularly in the opening thirty minutes, and that cannot happen, so I wasn’t happy with the defense performance, particularly on the left side, and how we performed the pressing. And willingness, spirit, and enthusiasm are the key factors in all of it.”
Calvin Bassey’s first goal in the 65th minute was canceled out by Harry Maguire, who appeared to have saved a draw for United. However, Alex Iwobi scored the game-winning goal deep into injury time when Fulham retaliated from a throw-in near their own corner flag.
Ten Hag acknowledged that it “can’t happen,” but he also said, “Our team’s management of it wasn’t good.”
Before the FA Cup fifth-round match at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, he made the following statement: “I know football players are not robots; certain times they have bad days.” However, that isn’t acceptable and can’t happen. We must improve tomorrow.”
Ten Hag stated in a conversation with MUTV that Raphael Varane and captain Bruno Fernandes’ availability is in question and that Maguire will miss the game against Forest due to an injury.
