Erik ten Hag rips into his players after Man Utd’s pre-season defeat to Rosenborg, he didn’t hold back

It was only the first game of pre-season but Ten Hag wanted to see more from his players.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was far from happy with his team’s performance in their pre-season opener against Rosenborg BK.

The Reds kicked off their preparations for the 2024/25 campaign with a 1-0 defeat after Noah Jean Holm’s injury-time winner sealed United’s fate at the Lerkendal Stadion, Norway.

Ahead of kick-off, Ten Hag said he wanted to see his players show “intensity” in their first pre-season outing.

He also mentioned being “hard to beat” when coming up against their opposition, who currently sit 11th in the Eliteserien table – but their lacklustre display left much to be desired.

In fact, in his post-match interview with MUTV, a frustrated Ten Hag described the performance as “not good enough” before mentioning dipping standards.

“The result is not secondary,” Ten Hag said. “Of course, we play pre-season but at Manchester United the standard is you win games and definitely don’t lose games.

“So if you can’t win, don’t lose the game, like we did in the last second of the game. But of course, the performance is more important and the performance was below standards.

“Let’s say he (Vitek) got the opportunity from the team to make some very good saves because the performance from the team is, by far, not good enough.”

Ten Hag added: “We can talk [about] everything that is bad, but I’m not that guy. I have seen and this is not the standard for top football. Top football, you have to achieve much higher standards, starts with any individual, make sure you’re fit.

“I know we can’t be match-fit in this moment, I know you need these games.

“The opponent is in the league, they have a much higher fitness level but we are Man United and players from Man United, a team from Man United, should perform better.”

Given the fact that Rosenborg are midway through their domestic season in Norway, whilst many of the United squad are only just returning from their summer break, you can understand why their performance was far from perfect.

But clearly Ten Hag is in no mood to make excuses.

Image credit: MUTV

Jonny Evans, who penned a new contract at Old Trafford last week, was joined by Mason Mount, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford in the starting line-up on Monday.

Hannibal also featured from the start alongside highly-rated forward Ethan Wheatley but it was the performance of Czech goalkeeper Radek Vitek that brought the most praise.

In his post-match interview, Ten Hag also gave his thoughts on new assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy, who recently joined the coaching staff alongside another former Eredivisie manager, Rene Hake.

🚨🗣️ – Erik ten Hag on Ruud van Nistelrooy: “He is a VERY ambitious manager. He has a great skill set. He will help the team — definitely attacking-wise!”

United will face Scottish Premiership side Rangers on Saturday in their second pre-season game of the campaign.