Christian Eriksen faced heavy criticism for making an ‘unacceptable’ comment during his post-match interview after Manchester United’s disappointing Europa League draw with Twente.
Eriksen had put United in the lead with a precise strike in the 35th minute, seemingly setting them up for a win in their first European match of the season. However, he later lost possession, which led to Twente equalizing in the second half….Continue Reading
Despite Manchester United’s efforts to find a winning goal in the last 20 minutes, they were held off by Twente, who currently sit fourth in the Eredivisie.
In a candid interview with TNT Sports following the match, Eriksen acknowledged that Twente “seemed to want it more” than the Premier League side.
‘It’s disappointing,’ Eriksen said. ‘We wanted more in the end but it wasn’t good enough.
‘They looked like they wanted it more than us and that can’t be right. That was said in the dressing room.
‘Personally you score and think you’re going to be the matchwinner and then it goes the other way. We didn’t lose but it feels like a loss.’
Eriksen’s admission that Twente ‘wanted it more’ than United did not go down well with pundits Owen Hargreaves and Karen Carney.
‘It was interesting what he said there about them wanting it more,’ Hargreaves said. ‘Obviously you can’t have that.
‘I didn’t get that impression myself. I thought United’s heads went down a bit after the goal and that’s not good enough. They didn’t get the job done.’
Carney added: ‘To hear that, you can’t have that. That’s unacceptable. ‘You’re at home, you’re winning, you should want it more and be ruthless. I don’t see the ruthless edge in this team at the minute.’
Man United boss Ten Hag, meanwhile, felt his team ‘dropped their level’ after an encouraging opening 45 minutes.
‘We kept them alive, 1-0 up, controlling the game you have to be consistent and keep going,’ said Ten Hag, who used to play for Twente. ‘In the second half we dropped the level, gave the goal away.
‘We didn’t finish it off, we had to go for the second goal and so they stay alive and we get punished with a mistake from ourselves.’
After two successive draws, the Red Devils will look to get back to winning ways on Sunday when they travel to north London to face Tottenham.
