Erik ten Hag has revealed that he wants the Manchester United players to “suffer”
in order to achieve our goals this season.
The boss is under no illusions about the task in hand, despite the brilliant win to inflict Liverpool's first Premier League defeat in this calendar year.
He wants the same intensity brought to every training session, to ensure the on-field performance level remains just as high, starting with the weekend trip to Southampton.
With the squad back at Carrington today to begin preparation for the early kick-off on Saturday, the boss told us: “What I demand is that players bring the top spirit every day. Every day, they have to bring it to the club.
”It has to be a way of life and I hope they understand. It's only working - high performance, high level - if you have that spirit and have that focus.
“If you accept that you have to hurt yourself, you have to suffer, to finally get the best level out of you.”
The Reds head to St Mary's in a positive frame of mind, looking to build on Monday night's success, with scorers Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford off the mark for the campaign and striving to impress the new manager with their industry and output.
“I'm convinced they can be really a threat, really a weapon against every opponent. As long as their focus and energy is there with them, it is very difficult to stop them,”
Ten Hag added, with reference to the England internationals.
“So it's about the team getting them in the right situation and also about themselves, with the right approach, right focus in the game and battling, defending, pressing. But also dribbles and combinations and runs in behind.”