Manchester United's manager Erik Ten Hag has indicated how players have reacted in training following their 7-0 loss against Liverpool last weekend.
The Red Devils left Anfield with their heads hanging down their necks after the game against Liverpool ended in the most disastrous way. It was the Red Devils' heaviest defeat in 92 years in a competitive game, and it didn't sit well with Erik Ten Hag, who was absolutely furious at full time.
Reports from the Carrington training center claimed that the 53-year-old Dutch tactician arrived two hours earlier the following Monday before the players arrived as well; there was no tardiness.
The manager sat them down and made them rewatch the highlights of their loss before laying into them, claiming they were lucky not to be on the same bus as the angry fans who traveled down to the stadium to watch them.
During his press conference ahead of the team's round of 16 Europa League first leg tie, Erik Ten Hag was asked about the team's debrief and the possible conclusions on plans to bounce back.
"Of course, we have to draw conclusions, and that is what we did," Erik Ten Hag replied.
"Of course, we talked about [the loss], and, of course, we have seen and drawn the right conclusions." "We have to reset and bounce back."
He went further to dismiss the idea that the players were the only ones to blame, claiming he also deserved some of the criticism.
"No. We are in the same boat, and we did it in togetherness. So we win together, we lose together, so all we made a mess on Sunday and we have to deal with that."
The 53-year-old was further quizzed on the players' reactions in training and if he is satisfied with how they have handled the loss on Sunday evening.
"Yes. I think the players, they reflected well," he replied.
"We know, but we also know that when you go into the season, the setbacks will always be there. And this was a huge setback, clearly. But when you are - we had a run of, I think, 23 games with one loss, and that was the second, but, of course, the way it went, there were a lot of lessons in it that can help us in the future.
"That is what we have, so [that is] the positive out of it." The negative is that we were really below average, especially mentally. We have to take the lessons. "We want to be a big team; we want to bring trophies, so then you have to act different, and I think, after Sunday, we got a big lesson. We took that, but now we have to move on and we have to look forward."
"So that is the way we treated it, and now all the energy, all the focus, has to be on the next game," he replied.
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