Ten Hag Says After Manchester United Slaughtered Brentford 4 Goals Without Reply: This Team Must Be Responsible

Erik ten Hag (Instagram @manchesterunited)

JAKARTA - Erik ten Hag blamed the individual mistakes of his players for Manchester United's big loss to Brentford but he and goalkeeper David de Gea apologized to United supporters.

The new Manchester United manager also admitted that Brentford, who crushed the Red Devils 0-4 last Saturday night and at the same time forced his team to suffer a second defeat in a row, more hungry to win than his team.

Brentford scored four goals in the opening 35 minutes of the first half which was preceded by a blunder by goalkeeper David de Gea which saw Josh Dasilva score Brentford's first goal.

"Brentford are hungrier. We conceded goals due to individual mistakes. You can't just throw away tactical plans," said Ten Hag as quoted by Antara from The Guardian page.

"It's shocking when you start a game like this. After 35 minutes we have conceded four goals. This is impossible. This team must take responsibility, I apologize to the supporters who have done everything to support us, we have let them down," said Ten Hag.

De Gea made a blunder that saw Dasilva and Mattias Jensen score for Brentford, but Ten Hag didn't want to blame the goalkeeper. Instead he was more critical of the team's performance.

"They are good players, and have responsibility on the pitch, as a team and individually, and that's what we didn't do. I've asked them to play with confidence and take responsibility for their performance, and that's what we didn't do. ' continued Ten Hag.

"But don't forget, the manager is also responsible, he is the most responsible, and I accept it. I will fix it. I have to make them believe, but they have to show it themselves."

Ten Hag also dismissed the notion that Lisandro Martínez's height was one of the causes of his team's defeat and made it difficult for United to duel with opposing players who were taller than the United centre-back.

"At 0-4 I could have replaced eight players," said Ten Hag.

Meanwhile de Gea declared himself the person most responsible for United's big defeat.

"I think I was the cause of the three points lost to my team," said de Gea. "What a poor performance from me. I should have saved the first goal, and maybe the result would have been different."

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is happy his team can beat Manchester United by that much score.

"It's a very much deserved win over Manchester United," Frank said.