ERIK TEN HAG slammed his Manchester United team after they lost in Norway to kick off their preseason.
Despite the fact that it was only a friendly, and he made 11 outfield changes at halftime, he declared it was “not good enough” when the Red Devils were defeated in injury time.
Marcus Rashford was in action for Manchester United against Rosenborg tonight.
He was unable to find a breakthrough after 45 minutes.
Erik ten Hag suffered defeat in United’s first preseason game.Goalkeeper Radek Vitek was the finest performer for the Red Devils.The roster was understrength, however notable players such as Marcus Rashford, Aaran Wan-Bissaka, Jonny Evans, Casemiro, and Mason Mount appeared in the first half.
Ten Hag, the harsh taskmaster who has carried on as United manager despite the danger of the axe, was not pleased.He fumed, “The performance is below par.”It is far from good enough. It is not the benchmark for elite football.
“I know we cannot be match fit at this stage and we played an opponent with much higher fitness levels, still we are Manchester United and players from Manchester United should play better.”United succumbed to an injury-time goal from Noah Holm and the Rosenborg squad, who are only 15 games into their season.But what about Rashford, who played in the first half?On the day England’s struggling Three Lions returned from a heartbreaking Euros final defeat, there he was.
Best free bet sign-up offers for UK bookmakers.Rashford was in the competition the last time it reached that point, and he was called upon to attempt a penalty kick in a shootout against Italy at Wembley Stadium, but he missed and England lost.He scored three goals at the past World Cup, helping Gareth Southgate’s team reach the quarterfinals. He was also an active participant at the time.In reality, he had been a major part of Southgate’s tale since the beginning, including his World Cup run to the final four in 2018.
You don’t get 60 caps and 17 goals without being a part of it all.Not now, at 26 years old, when he should be in his best.Not since March of last year, when they lost 1-0 at home to Brazil.Instead, he was here playing to near-complete quiet in a mindnumbing pre-season game in which goaltender Radek Vitek emerged as the match’s MVP, which clearly did not impress the boss.Even though it was his first pre-season appearance, Rashford’s performance was typical of his past season.But he needs to do something in United’s summer preparations, which begin next week with a match against Rangers at Hampden on Saturday.In 2022-23, he scored a season-high 30 goals, but everything changed rapidly in football when a young player loses focus, like he did last season.He got into a disagreement with the manager and was kicked from the team.Mason Mount logged 45 minutes of action in Norway.
Off-field evenings out, along with on-field performances that were inconsistent with his prior campaign, contributed to his decline last season with both club and national teams.Mason Mount was only sidelined due to injury last season as he struggled for games.Perhaps the circumstances and calibre of this game helped to drive it home, even to these veteran players, including Casemiro, who is no longer with Brazil but has attended the Copa America.He was the target of a studs-up challenge from Tomas Nemcik, which should have resulted in a red card in the first half but is fine.Ten Hag commented, “There were so many bad tackles in the first half.”Already, he’s unhappy.
