Why Ten Hag enjoyed his weekend
Erik ten Hag believes it was a 'good weekend' for Manchester United, as our last-gasp 1-1 draw with Athletic Club in Dublin followed hot on the heels of Saturday's 3-1 victory over Lens at Old Trafford.
United came from behind to secure a result in both games and that resilience is something our Dutch boss thinks stands us in good stead ahead of the start of the Premier League season, despite a much-changed XI in Ireland meaning only Jadon Sancho and Omari Forson featured in both contests.
Aitor Paredes was sent off on 67 minutes for the La Liga outfit, and Ten Hag was also happy his side had the chance to tweak shape and test ourselves when it came to breaking down 10 men.
Read every word of Erik's answers from his post-match chat with MUTV's Zarah Connolly, Luke Chadwick and Danny Simpson below...
NEVER SAY DIE
“We don’t give up. We fight until the end. Finally, we got the equaliser and I thought it was justified. We wanted a good result, to finish the pre-season well. We gave a stupid goal [away] and went down. It was a giveaway, but as a team we showed character and that’s what we need for the season.”
Erik: Red Devils never give up
The boss is pleased with the character United showed in Dublin, to come from behind for the second time this weekend...
PLAYING AGAINST TEN
“It was a good drill, I would say. When you have the opportunity in pre-season, you have to take that opportunity when you are playing against 10. We put three at the back and put an extra offensive player in, in Noam [Emeran]. We go more direct and we created some good chances from it.”
GOOD FOR THE KIDS
“They deserve it, otherwise we don’t line them up. Of course, when you start pre-season, we have to give them an opportunity but then they have to take it. They are brave and that is what I like. Be brave, play football and show yourself. If you want to play in the first team, you have to take responsibility in and out of possession and that’s what those guys are doing. I’m happy with their development. It’s games like this one, Dortmund, we had that game against Wrexham: it’s so valuable for their development for young players. From those games, they learn and improve a lot.”
Report: United 1 Athletic Club 1
ArticleFacundo Pellistri earns a draw for the Reds in Dublin with the last kick of the game.
A VALUABLE WEEKEND
“In one weekend, two times we are losing but you see this team have character and that’s what you need in a season as well. Sometimes you are down and then you have to show resilience and especially in such moments you need determination. We have shown that this weekend, it was a good weekend for us. Yesterday I thought it was a very good level, today I have seen also very good spells. I think the start of the game was also very good and we should have scored a goal to go up, because it was a great chance from Jadon Sancho. We had some good moments after that as well and it was stupid how we went down but as I said, we had a result and we came back so it was a good weekend for us.”