Erik Ten Hag has thanked Pep Guardiola and Manchester City for giving his Manchester United team a ”lesson” on derby day.
United were humiliated by their noisy neighbours at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, losing 6-3 and conceding two hat-ticks, one to Phil Foden and the other to Erling Haaland. Whilst certainly a tough pill to swallow, Ten Hag has made it clear his team will learn from the defeat.
In a press conference, Ten Hag said: “You will have setbacks. We beat Arsenal, we beat Liverpool, Sunday we had a bad day at the office. City were better, we have to accept that, but we can’t accept our unacceptable performance. That’s what you always do [tweak], you take respect of the opponent, but we will stick to our philosophy and principles. We can get a lot of confidence from beating Arsenal and Liverpool, but now we get a reality check with Man City. So thank you for the lesson, Pep and City. We have to understand, we have to do things much better.”
The loss brought United’s four-game winning streak to a screeching halt and left them nine points behind leaders Arsenal, albeit having played one game less.
Ten Hag’s men will now switch their focus to a return to continental action, facing Omonia in the Europa League on October 6. They will then travel to Everton to try and get their Premier League season back on track.
