A gutless performance by a totally uninspired Erik ten Hag side saw Manchester United dismally thrown out of the Europa League on Thursday night after suffering an eviscerating 3-0 defeat to Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Sevilla in Spain.
The defeat led Ten Hag to point another finger of blame at the flops in his team, accusing them of an “unacceptable” performance as their earlier buoyant Europa League campaign hopes came tumbling down from its temporary high perch to an embarrassing end.
Costly, not to mention humiliating, blunders by United skipper Harry Maguire and goalkeeper David De Gea helped consign United to a debilitating loss to six-time Europa League winners Sevilla. Understandably gaffer Ten Hag was in no mood to molly coddle his shambolic players post-match and instead opened fire on them, saying they had let themselves, the club and their fans down with their dismal display, this being the sixth season in a row United have gone out of Europe to Spanish opposition.
“Tonight we were not good enough,” said Ten Hag. “That was obvious. We did not match the standards you can expect from a Manchester United team.
“I have to acknowledge, it’s the truth, it’s hard, it’s tough, but it’s the truth. It’s unacceptable. We have to be better. It’s not about playing skills, it’s about character. Sevilla had more willingness to win – it can’t be like that.
“Everyone can see the demands and the standard has to be higher in a club like Manchester United. We have to face the fact that we let ourselves down, we let the fans down. If you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need character.
“They had more passion, more desire, more willingness. With that it’s difficult to win games.”
The Ajax gaffer must now dig deep into his bag of goodies to try and lift his players for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Brighton at Wembley as arch rivals Manchester City square up against Sheffield United in the other semi-final, with Pep Guardiola’s side hotly in pursuit of a treble comprising the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. The last team to achieve that feat was an impeccable United selection under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.
“We can’t run away from it,” said Ten Hag. “On Sunday we have another opportunity and we have to step up and show more character and personality.
“This was a great opportunity, a great occasion to win something and we gave it away – we have to blame ourselves. It’s gone, we can’t change it. We have to look forward to Sunday, that’s the next opportunity.”
It should come as no surprise that some United players will be fearing the chop after Thursday night’s game, with United legend Paul Scholes telling BT Sport: “I think tonight has made Ten Hag’s mind up on a few of these players. That is probably the only good thing that will come out of this.
“This shows the squad isn’t good enough, if you have injuries. This squad can handle other games but when it comes to the crunch, the big atmosphere, it falls short. The quality drops a level when the big players aren’t fit.”