MY ACCOUNT
Owen Hargreaves laid into Manchester United’s players after they showed “a lack of fight” in the humiliating defeat at Brentford.
The ex-Red Devils midfielder felt any tactical questions were irrelevant as Erik ten Hag’s side wilted in the West London heat.
Four first-half goals consigned United to the embarrassing 4-0 reverse as the Dutchman’s difficult start to life in England continued.
But Hargreaves was more focused on the players losing “every battle” against Thomas Frank’s Bees.
He said: “They made some mistakes and the goals were poor. There was no fight to get back into the game, no tackling, no aggression.
“Football at this level is about competition, that’s how you make it. Brentford won every battle. You’ve got to win the battles. They weren’t ready against Brighton and they weren’t ready again.
“Erik ten Hag is a super coach, he did an amazing job at Ajax. But these two games have not gone to plan. I don’t know how you can turn this around quickly. The confidence is just gone.
“It’s a privilege and honour to wear that football shirt. We’ve all been there as players, had terrible games.
“But you get through it by fighting and competing. Forget about the tactics, it’s about winning your individual battles.
“I’m tired of being critical and negative. But what can you say? There were not any positives.”
Ex-England defender Lee Dixon went one step further and called out United’s stars for a lack of effort on the pitch.
And that was backed up by the stats, with United running over 13km less than Saturday’s opponents.
Ten Hag reportedly made the squad run that distance yesterday as he cancelled their day off and called them in for extra training.
Dixon said: “The mistakes that are going on, the lack of effort that’s going on. They’re not doing their jobs. You look at the positions they get themselves into, effectively terrible. No organization.
“They’ve got some seriously experienced players out there just going through the motions because they think they can’t fix it, they think it’s the manager’s fault. No it’s not, it’s their fault. They’re the players who go out.
“Yes, tactics play a part in it but you have to be responsible for your own performance and that out there was disgraceful. Some of them dropped their heads after the second goal went in. They’re not marking players, that sort of stuff.
“So forget the manager, forget the club, look at the players. Start with individuals and that’s not good enough.”
United’s start to the campaign does not get any easier with a home game against fierce rivals Liverpool next Monday night.
