Erik ten Hag pulls no punches. It doesn’t matter if you’ve won five Ballon d’Or awards or if you’re coming from the Manchester United academy, every player is treated equally.
It’s all about high standards. Ten Hag wants the highest level of performance in every match and that showed when he made a change at half-time in the FA Cup fifth-round tie against West Ham.
Casemiro came on to sort out the midfield but this meant Scott McTominay was chopped. Ten Hag made the right decision, so ultimately nobody can blink an eyelid or have sympathy for those who miss out as a result.
The manager was asked about his demeanour at half-time against West Ham.
Ten Hag says his criticism of the players was warranted during his half-time talk against West Ham.
“What I saw was that we were not playing to our standards,” Ten Hag said, as per the Manchester Evening News. “That’s what I saw in the first half. Then I will be tough on my team, to my players, because I demand a performance.
“Every day I demand a performance. I don’t accept when it’s lower, then I will criticise them and tell them what to expect. Then I have to give the team solutions on how to win the game and I think the performance in the second-half was much better.”
Sometimes the players deserve it!
