Erik ten Hag has got his Manchester United reign off to the perfect start with a 4-0 victory over Liverpool in Bangkok.
United raced into a 3-0 lead after just 33 minutes at the Rajamangala Stadium with Jadon Sancho, Fred and Anthony Martial getting on the scoresheet. A second half strike from Facundo Pellistri made it 4-0 and rounded off a very good afternoon for the Red Devils.
It may only have been a friendly but Ten Hag must have been delighted with what he saw.
“We are satisfied today because I think there was a team with great spirit,” the Dutchman said. “We know we are just starting and when things begin to click like the press… we know we made some mistakes in pressing and conceded some chances but also we created a lot and I think our team played bravely, they were proactive and we had to work really hard to get out of some mistakes. Of course, we are happy with the first game.
“It was not only the result. I know we have good players but we have to play as a team. We started the first game well so I am happy.”
However, Ten Hag knows there is still plenty of room for improvement before the season starts.
“Of course it will take time, believe me I have seen a lot of mistakes but I will not say [what they were]. But to be honest, Liverpool played with three teams and they were not at their strongest, so we are not overestimating them [our players]. We saw some really good things. What you see is we have a lot of creativity and speed in the front and we have potential.”
When Tag Hag says he saw some ‘really good things’, he may well have been talking about a couple of impressive passages of play from his side.
That’s because a video of ‘Ten Hag Ball’ from the victory over Liverpool is going viral. It shows United passing the ball out of the back and keeping the ball with quick forward passes until they have a chance on goal.
It really is exciting to watch.
Check it out: