Ten Hag’s men off to a flier in Liverpool rout
ERIK TEN HAG stood clutching the Bangkok Century Cup with Bruno Fernandes as the music thumped and the confetti pumped and the staged celebrations got underway. Above him, the giant scoreboard read: Manchester United 4 Liverpool 0. Ten Hag’s first game as United manager and here was his first trophy. It was quite the start.
The expressionless look on Ten Hag’s face told a rather different story. He knows that events here on a sticky night in Bangkok are far removed from the cold reality of Premier League football. When United face Liverpool at Old Trafford next month, it will be in different circumstances. Jurgen Klopp said there are no friendlies between these two clubs, but there are and this was one of them. Klopp played three different teams, changing all 10 outfield players after half an hour and 60 minutes. Ten Hag also made 10 changes at half-time, so we should only read so much into the result.
But 4-0 against any Liverpool team these days is not to be sniffed at, and Ten Hag would have faced serious questions if the score was the other way round. When he shook hands with his assistant Steve McClaren at the final whistle and was met with raised eyebrows, it suggested that even they were surprised by the margin of victory. Ten Hag does not come across as a man who gets carried away, though. ‘We will not overestimate this result,’ he said. ‘It will take time and I have seen a lot of mistakes. We have to work hard to cut them out but, of course, we are happy.’
The Dutchman will be encouraged that United had four different scorers in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. Jadon Sancho, Fred and Anthony Martial were on target before half-time and Facundo Pellistri added a fourth. If Ten Hag can coax more finishes from Fred like his exquisite chip over Alisson then he really is a special coach.
The players are clearly buying into his philosophy. Martial isn’t known for his work ethic but the way he robbed the ball from Rhys Williams before scoring a solo effort demonstrated the benefits of the pressing game Ten Hag demands.
Eric Bailly seized a rare opportunity in the second half by showing the new manager just how good a defender he can be, although this is likely to be one of the Ivorian’s last appearances for United.
For Liverpool, this result felt much less significant. Klopp will not dwell on it too long as they head to Singapore for a match against Crystal Palace on Friday. ‘The game came too early,’ he said. ‘United had a week longer with their core group and they did really well. The result is there, we have to accept it.’ It may have turned out differently had the impressive Luis Diaz, Fabio Carvalho and Mo Salah not all hit posts. More worrying was the sight of record £85million signing Darwin Nunez (left) firing over an unguarded goal on his debut.
Nunez can blame those blisters. Ten Hag’s problem now might be keeping everyone’s feet on the ground. LIVERPOOL are offering fans caught up in the chaos of the Champions League final a free ticket to the friendly against Strasbourg at Anfield on July 31.