Erik ten Hag said that Manchester United humiliation at Crystal Palace marked a new low point in his campaign by accusing his players of not following his “script” or not following his “rules”.
UnitedThe country’s dismal season was made worse by a horrific 4-0 defeat at Selhurst Park, which will add to the increasing pressure on the manager as he struggles to stay in his job after this campaign.
Ten Hag said his players “let each other down” as they were destroyed by an impressive Palace team, for whom Michael Olise produced a wonderful individual performance.
“It was definitely the worst defeat [of the season],” said Ten Hag. “We should have done better. We are aware of the team’s performance, we don’t get things right, we make big mistakes and we don’t follow the plan and the script. And the rules we have.
“Of course there were also individual mistakes, but then we should have covered for each other, which we didn’t do. We let each other down.”
Asked if this was a new low point of the season, Ten Hag said: “Yes. The way we scored goals was very bad, especially when we prepared the team.
“This is the fourth defeat in 2024. Until now you have always seen a team that was playing and following the script. That’s why we didn’t have many wins, but we were difficult to beat. Today we were easy to beat.”
United’s problems have not been helped by their long injury list, which now includes Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire. They were forced to present a patched-up defense, in which Casemiro suffered a terrible night. Telegraph Sport columnist Jamie Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, said Casemiro’s performance was “embarrassing”.
Asked about his position, Ten Hag insisted he is still the man to take United forward, provided their injury crisis eases. “Absolutely, if we have the right players available,” he said. “[Today] we lost almost the entire defense line, so we have problems.
“I’m going to keep fighting. I prepared the team as best I could, it wasn’t good enough, I take responsibility for that.”
United have conceded 81 goals in all competitions this season, the most in a single campaign since 1976-77. They lost 13 Premier League matches throughout the campaign, a club record.
Oliver Glasner says his Palace team could have played even better. “I think the first half performance was not our best level,” he said. “It was an open game in the first half, but we were efficient.
“We didn’t give them any space in defense [after the break]. The second half was very good, but in the first half we could do better.”
What the pundits and players said about United’s capitulation…
Jamie Carragher on Casemiro:
“This has nothing to do with playing out of position, it could be as a midfielder. This is embarrassing. They need to take him off, he has to get off the field.
“He needs to call it a day at this level of football and get moving.”
Carragher on Man Utd support:
“Most teams’ away support is fantastic, but Manchester United’s is absolutely fantastic because their players don’t deserve it.”
Carragher on the result:
“No Manchester United team should lose 4-0 to Crystal Palace. I understand the injury issues, but Manchester United’s Under-23s will have been coached, put through the academy and taught how to play. I think if Manchester United U23s played Crystal Palace tonight they still wouldn’t have lost 4-0 tonight.”
Ashley Young on Palace’s first goal:
“You look at the first goal, it’s crazy the way they are set up. Palace are entitled to a throw-in in their own half.
“It’s just an Olise race. He sees the space and just runs into it. It’s a mess, Casemiro I don’t know what he’s thinking, Olise sees that he’s going to make a challenge, just go past him, it’s so easy.”
Christian Eriksen after full-time:
“A big disappointment. We just had a day off and we weren’t into it.
“It is what it is. We can’t really change the injury stuff. We have to do what we can on the field to change it. Today it didn’t matter who we played. Everyone could have done better.
“I don’t know what the conclusion is about how it happened. We weren’t good enough.
“We tried to do what we could, but we weren’t good enough. We will take the blame as players.”
