Boss made his point, now we have to put it right
Dalot accepts Ten Hag criticism
DIOGO DALOT says there is no hiding place for Manchester United’s players, who must accept Erik ten Hag’s brutal criticism of them.
Ten Hag accused his players of a lack of belief after their humiliating 6-3 derby defeat at Manchester City last weekend.
United failed to respond in the right way on Thursday, limping to an unconvincing 3-2 Europa League win away to Cypriot minnows Omonia.
Ten Hag’s side go to Everton tomorrow, with right-back Dalot admitting the manager was right to question the attitude of his players.
“It did not hurt,” said Dalot. “I think this should be the standard of this club.
“If you play for Manchester United, you have to believe in every single game. You have to have confidence as well, but you have to take the responsibility that you’re playing for the biggest club in the world.
“This has to be normal for us, but in a good way – not to be overwhelmed with that, but take it as a responsibility. This has to be the standard for every player, not just the fans, because they always demand everything, but for us as well we have to demand that.
“After a defeat like City, it’s always tough, but it’s time to take responsibility and improve in some aspects which we should do for the rest of the season.”
United’s emphatic loss at
City brought to an end a run of four straight wins in the league, including victories over leaders Arsenal and fierce rivals Liverpool.
Those victories came after United began the season with back-toback defeats by Brighton and Brentford.
“We want to be consistent,” said Dalot. “At the beginning of the season, we were like this, with ups and downs, but we try to be as consistent as we can. We have to find our balance as a team. We have to find consistency and that comes with results and with confidence. This is what we all hope for. We want to build a squad – not just 11, 12 or 13 players. We’ve had some games where the players who came on have made a really big impact.
“I think this shows that we can have a long-term thing that we want to build – a very good squad and a team that will be competing. That’s what this club want. Overall, we want to bring a proper squad to fight for titles.” Forward Marcus Rashford, who took his goal tally for the season to five with his double in Cyprus, said it is vital that United get back on track in the league.
“We have to bounce back in the league,” said Rashford, above. “We have to pick up points and keep trying to get as high up the table as we can. “It’s quite early on and there’s a lot of breaks in the season this year, so it’s important we pick up points at every opportunity we can.”