Erik ten Hag slams “unacceptable” Man Utd after dire Aston Villa defeat

Furious Erik ten Hag has slammed his Manchester United side for their “unacceptable” performance in the defeat to Aston Villa.

The Red Devils went into the game holding a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions. But they put in a dreadful display at Villa Park, conceding two goals within the first 12 minutes to fall to their fourth loss of the season.

Ten Hag had made a number of surprising selection calls, with Cristiano Ronaldo handed the captaincy and Donny van de Beek starting in place of the suspended Bruno Fernandes. But those decisions failed to pay off, with United frequently finding themselves overrun by the hosts.

Leon Bailey, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey all netted for the hosts, with United having only Luke Shaw’s deflected goal to show for their efforts. And their awful performance left boss Ten Hag fuming.

“We lose the game at the start of the first half and second half, that is unacceptable. They looked more fresh, more ready. The result is clear, it never lies. In football you always get your own earnings. Today we were not good enough,” he told BBC Sport.

“After a long time this has happened, I said it was up to us. We didn’t keep the ball, we didn’t get the right organisation, didn’t follow the rules and lost battles. Our players have experience.

“You have to read the game, get the right organisation and not concede two goals. That was totally unnecessary. We need to be more sharp. You have to be compact and stand on the ball. Everyone has to win their own battles, we didn’t, that is disappointing.

“We didn’t get the right organisation. We created chances and good chances at 2-1. But you are really disappointed to concede at the start of the second half.”

Aside from his goal, Shaw endured a horror afternoon up against Villa star Ramsey before being hauled off after 64 minutes. And the left-back admitted that his side did not deserve to earn any points.

“We knew they were coming out with a new manager and a new feeling. We did expect it. But in games like this, if you start slowly in the first 20 minutes then you are going to lose,” he told BBC Sport.

“We were not good enough. We have always got to believe we can win games even when we’re 2-0 down. We conceded early in the second half and it’s a mountain to climb after that.

“If you watch the game back, you’ll see we made a sloppy start. They were finding spaces and pockets and turning with ease. That is not good enough. We didn’t deserve to win.”

The defeat leaves United three points adrift of Tottenham in fourth place, with Brighton and Chelsea both putting the pressure on the Red Devils. Villa boss Unai Emery praised his players for sticking to his game plan.

“The supporters were amazing supporting us and the players were great with the plan,” he said. “First step is take confidence, start with energy and the supporters supported with their response. We have the players with the good skills.”