Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has stated that his team needs to accept accountability and improve as they prepare to play Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Ten Hag’s remarks are in response to his team’s recent poor performance at the London Stadium against West Ham’s late goals, which condemned them to their eighth Premier League defeat of the year .
“In every game, they have to step up and you know, you’ve said now the word, two or three times… you have to take responsibility. I have to take responsibility and the players with me have to take responsibility.
“But everyone and maybe in moments you expect from the seniors even more when you have young players around. But yeah, when you are good enough, then you are also old enough, So we have to do it together. It doesn’t matter what age it is, we have to put out the team who has to win the game.” said in a press conference on Monday.
When asked if his call for responsibility from his players reflects a level of disappointment, he said. ”No, I’m not disappointed by the attitude. But of course, we know what the standard is at Man United. We have to win as a team. And therefore, yeah, I take the word responsibility.
“We have to take that as a team. And every individual has to contribute 100 per cent in that responsibility.”
The Dutchman revealed he was optimistic about the likes of Raphael Varane and Amad Diallo making a quick return.
“I think hopefully Raphael Varane will return. And for the rest, maybe Amad Diallo, we’ll see how far he is. He has trained now for two weeks. They are probably the ones who can maybe return.”