Facundo Pellistri has revealed that Erik ten Hag was furious with his team following Manchester United's 3-2 defeat against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday night.
United wrapped up their pre-season tour of the United states with a defeat against the Bundesliga outfit. A brace from Donyell Malen was followed up by a 71st minute winner by Yousouffa Moukoko to consign Manchester United to a third straight loss ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
Pellistri was one of the players who started the match in Las Vegas before Ten Hag made a host of changes. And the highly-rated Uruguay international admitted that the Dutchman was left "angry" with the performance.
Speaking after the match, Pellistri told The United Stand: “For the first 43 minutes, we were good, we controlled the game and looked comfortable on the ball. But of course, he [Ten Hag] was angry because of the two mistakes we made and the goals we conceded which changes the match. The goals we conceded changed the momentum but we have to continue with the way we want to play.”
Ten Hag's frustrations were clear during his own post-match interview with MUTV, where he bemoaned his players inability to "follow the rules".
When he was asked for his analysis of the performance, he replied: “Two parts. The first hour was good, performed well, playing as a team, a lot of dynamism, good pressing, so it was really enjoyable to see and that is what I wanted to say to the team at half-time. And then all of sudden they gave away two goals – and they were really giveaways! So that was already annoying.
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AP)“But the last half-an-hour, that was bad. That was a poor performance. Didn’t follow the rules at all. Not in pressing, not in building up and not in attacking. So there were 11 individuals finally on the pitch and that wasn’t good at all.”
Ten Hag continued to lambast the performance after he was asked whether or not he could see the benefits from the club's pre-season trip across the pond.
He added: “I think so. So the same thing I said to the team, I think it was a good tour but you want to finish with a good performance. And you see only 60 minutes where I was pleased with it – but not with the goals we conceded, because that was really poor. First one really poor defending and the second one really poor in building up. That is not us.
“We have to keep the control and keep the responsibility on the ball. And it was the same for the 3-2 goal for Dortmund. So that can’t happen. It’s unforgivable, even if it’s a friendly.”
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