Facundo Pellistri has revealed that Erik ten Hag was furious with his team following Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday night.
With a loss to the Bundesliga team, Man United’s preseason trip of the United States came to an end. Donyell Malen scored twice, and Yousouffa Moukoko added the winning goal in the 71st minute to hand Manchester United its third straight defeat before the new Premier League season.
Pellistri was one of the competitors who entered the Las Vegas competition before Ten Hag made a number of adjustments. And the highly regarded Uruguayan player acknowledged that the Dutchman was “angry” with the performance.
Speaking after the match, Pellistri told The United Stand: “For the first 43 minutes, we were good, we controlled the game and looked comfortable on the ball. But of course, he [Ten Hag] was angry because of the two mistakes we made and the goals we conceded which changes the match. The goals we conceded changed the momentum but we have to continue with the way we want to play.”
Ten Hag’s frustrations were clear during his own post-match interview with MUTV, where he bemoaned his players inability to “follow the rules”.
When he was asked for his analysis of the performance, he replied: “Two parts. The first hour was good, performed well, playing as a team, a lot of dynamism, good pressing, so it was really enjoyable to see and that is what I wanted to say to the team at half-time. And then all of sudden they gave away two goals – and they were really giveaways! So that was already annoying.
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“But the last half-an-hour, that was bad. That was a poor performance. Didn’t follow the rules at all. Not in pressing, not in building up and not in attacking. So there were 11 individuals finally on the pitch and that wasn’t good at all.”
Erik ten Hag was less than impressed with Manchester United’s performance against Borussia Dortmund
Ten Hag continued to lambast the performance after he was asked whether or not he could see the benefits from the club’s pre-season trip across the pond.
He added: “I think so. So the same thing I said to the team, I think it was a good tour but you want to finish with a good performance. And you see only 60 minutes where I was pleased with it – but not with the goals we conceded, because that was really poor. First one really poor defending and the second one really poor in building up. That is not us.
“We have to keep the control and keep the responsibility on the ball. And it was the same for the 3-2 goal for Dortmund. So that can’t happen. It’s unforgivable, even if it’s a friendly.”
