Ten Hag: We deserved no more than a draw

Saturday 13 April 2024 21:20

Erik ten Hag admitted Manchester United have dropped too many recent points in the race for a Champions League place, when speaking after his side's 2-2 away draw with Bournemouth.

Had the Reds found a third goal, to improve on the results against Brentford (1-1), Chelsea (3-4) and then Liverpool (2-2), it would have barely been deserved in the Dutchman's view. He was clearly disappointed with the first-half display when Bournemouth scored twice from their 12 shots, after frequently finding space in United's half - particularly on our defensive right.

Below, you can watch the manager's post-match interview with MUTV, and scroll further down to read key quotes from his conversations with BBC Sport and Sky Sports...
Ten Hag: A draw is not good enough Video

Ten Hag: A draw is not good enough

Erik ten Hag says the Reds must take the point earned at Bournemouth, but rues United's first-half performance...

WE GAVE THE BALL AWAY

"We have a team that is resilient and has character. We want to win. And twice we fought back from losing positions, but we come into losing positions and that's totally unnecessary. Totally unnecessary. We lost the ball three times in the areas where you should not lose it.

"We were not always well-organised, especially over the right side. There came some gaps and the opposition could benefit from it. And we should have done this better."

IMPROVED AFTER THE INTERVAL

"The second half was better. We took more responsibility and then we closed the side. In the second half there were two things [I told them to do]: stay in the formation, in position, don't get erratic, because we will create a moment. And the second was to do your job in the defending part."

DEBATABLE PENALTY DECISIONS

"It [Willy Kambwala on Ryan Christie] was not a penalty, definitely not. I don't think there was a foul and the player was running into our defender. We conceded in the last four games three penalties and all the penalties were debatable, as also was the penalty we won today. It [handball against Adam Smith] was also debatable. So we have to be honest."


Who was United's Man of the Match at Bournemouth?poll

Who was United's Man of the Match at Bournemouth?

CHASING A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE

"This result is not enough. We know that. We know when you're coming into the final stage of the season, this is not enough. And the truth is, today, we didn't deserve more. If you allow them so many chances in the first half, then as a team, you don't deserve more. You have to take control. Don't allow them the chances. Take control of the game and score goals for yourself.

"We, in this moment, with all the problems we have, we play to our levels and we can  play very good to our levels. But you have  to do it over the course of the game until stoppage-time. In the last four games, we drop points where we often were in winning positions. Not today. We were in losing positions and we fought back."

Ten Hag's post-match press conference Video

Ten Hag's post-match press conference

Erik discusses Alejandro Garnacho, Harry Maguire and more after our draw at Bournemouth...

MAGUIRE GUIDED US

"Harry Maguire was struggling [with an issue] in the first half but we were very pleased he overcame that because we don't have any more centre halves. And then you see in the second half his leadership is coming in. He's guiding and then we are more closed."

CAPTAIN'S PERFORMANCE BY BRUNO


"He scored twice. He's very creative. It's true. It gives a lot of energy to the team. So he's acting as a captain, so he brings energy in the team. And we are very pleased with this. He expressed that feeling [disappointment at the end]. We have to win our games and we dropped, in the last four games, too many points and that's unnecessary."

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