Erik ten Hag lamented the decision-making of his Manchester United players following their dramatic 4-3 defeat against Chelsea this week.
Despite being in a position to secure victory at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho’s brace and Bruno Fernandes’ goal, which canceled out Conor Gallagher’s early strike and Cole Palmer’s penalty, Manchester United suffered a heartbreaking loss.
Palmer, in exceptional form, converted another penalty in the 100th minute and completed his hat-trick in the 101st minute, handing Manchester United their 12th Premier League defeat of the season.
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Diego Dalot’s clumsy foul led to Palmer’s penalty, which he calmly converted to level the score at 3-3. Following the restart, Dalot initiated a desperate offensive push, which Chelsea exploited with a swift counter-attack. Palmer, left unmarked, received the ball from a subsequent corner and his shot deflected wickedly to seal victory for the home side.
“We started the game poorly, making individual errors. And, of course, that [stoppage-time goals] frustrates me the most,” Ten Hag expressed at a press conference on Friday.
“I had the feeling we were dominating the game and we fought back into the game. We put ourselves in a winning position with some very good football, sometimes brilliant football, scoring great goals.
“In stoppage time, we didn’t manage it. We didn’t bring the win over the line and that’s frustrating. They [the players] know their jobs and they have to make the right decisions.
“We didn’t make the right decisions, we didn’t react quickly enough to avoid this situation.”
Regarding his message to the United squad, Ten Hag further elaborated, “I said today to the players, we have to make better decisions, it’s our strength. You saw again how we score from counters – we can be such a massive threat. And we have seen today an example with tempo, how we can beat our opponents, where we are unstoppable.
“But we have to read when to keep the ball, especially when you are winning. Keep the ball, pass and move and switch the play instead of giving the ball away or resorting to long balls. Keep the ball in the opponent’s half, maintain possession, discourage the opponent.
“But then if you have to defend, you have to do it properly, and we made the wrong decisions. And on individual errors, and that’s very frustrating if you’re playing a good game.”