Ten Hag: We Were Almost Devouring the Opposition in the First Half; We Could Have Scored Two or Three

On the morning of September 22, in the 5th round of the Premier League, Manchester United drew 0-0 away to Crystal Palace. After the game, head coach Ten Hag accepted an interview with Sky Sports to comment on the match.

On this match:

I won’t be satisfied when the team doesn’t win, we should have won this game. I think in the first half, we were almost devouring them alive, and in the second half, both teams performed more evenly, but we should have scored one or two goals in the first half.

Are you disappointed with the team’s shooting performance?

I don’t think so, our performance was very good, we completely controlled the game, both in possession and out of possession. The only problem was in the penalty area, which is also the most decisive place, we need to be more calm in this area.

On Crystal Palace’s goal-scoring opportunity:

In the 44th minute of the first half, they had a chance, it was a very good scoring opportunity, but at that time, we should have been leading by two or three goals.

Changes in tactics in the second half:

The opponents blocked the space in the midfield area and launched some beautiful counterattacks, which made the game difficult. Firstly, it became harder for us to get through the midfield, and secondly, they got more space for counterattacks. I think Onana’s two consecutive saves were excellent.

On dropping points in the league again:

In the previous game against Brighton, we should have drawn or even won, so you could say we dropped three points. Today, you could also say we lost two points based on the first-half performance, but the important thing is that we didn’t lose the game.

On Hojlund’s return from injury:

You definitely want the players coming off the bench to make an impact on the game, now we can bring on Hojlund and Rashford, which can make a huge impact on the game, but they still need time to regain full fitness. I believe they can help our game here.

On the relationship with Rashford:

Yes, I saw some comments, some speculations, which are all crazy. I think you shouldn’t speculate about something without knowing the actual situation.

On Onana’s save:

It’s unbelievable, Onana’s explosiveness is too strong, so he is a very outstanding goalkeeper, he made two consecutive saves in one play. Now we all see how great he is, his reaction speed is very fast.

The importance of winning such games:

Of course, it’s important, but we’re actually in such a process. In the previous game against Brighton, we once equalized the score, but in the last 30 minutes, we lost control a bit after scoring, so we lost the game, and now we need to learn from it and improve.

Today we kept a clean sheet, we accepted the result, but if we want to become an excellent team in the Premier League, we need to be calmer in front of goal than our opponents.