Manchester United’s lackluster showing in their 1-1 draw against Brentford has displeased the club’s new minority owners, adding pressure on Erik ten Hag.
Despite salvaging a point, the Red Devils were largely outplayed, with Brentford dominating the match and tallying an impressive 31 shots before finding the net in the 99th minute.
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Thomas Frank’s team struck the woodwork three times and made 80 touches in the penalty area, while Manchester United have conceded 106 shots in their last four matches – an average of 26.5 per game.
Despite a thrilling 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final before the international break, suggesting a potential turnaround, it now seems that victory merely masked underlying issues.
According to The Telegraph, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s camp at Ineos has not reacted positively to United’s poor showing against Brentford, expressing concern over several recent performances.
In addition to their lackluster display at the Community Stadium, which was poorly received, United’s performance in a 2-1 defeat to Fulham five weeks ago also left much to be desired.
During that match, United struggled in the first half and conceded to a Calvin Bassey goal in the 65th minute, before rallying late to equalize through Harry Maguire in the 89th minute.
However, a last-minute breakaway saw Alex Iwobi securing all three points in the seventh minute of added time.
In that match, Manchester United posted impressive statistics, tallying 21 shots (nine on target) and holding 57 percent possession. However, much of their pressure came in the late stages, and Fulham led in rolling xG (Expected Goals) until the 75th minute.
Now, Erik ten Hag faces two critical matches this week against Chelsea and Liverpool. Defeat in both could extinguish their hopes of finishing in the top four. Despite mounting pressure, the Dutchman remains defiant about his team’s below-par performances and defensive vulnerabilities.
Probed on whether he is concerned by how many shots his team are conceding each game, Ten Hag said after the Brentford draw: ‘As long as we get results, no.
‘I’ll explain it once more. We defended low at times, because Brentford are very direct, we lost many second balls, and then you have to defend the box and that is what we did quite well.
‘And we had a great goalkeeper, he was brilliant as well, so we have to say that.
‘I think our results are quite consistent from January on, but yeah we concede shots. But we don’t concede too many goals. And we’re creating chances – with Rasmus Hojlund big chances – and we scored a goal, and it’s all about bringing that over the line.’
Asked if a future title challenge can be sustained on such poor performances against teams like Brentford, Ten Hag hit back: ‘Don’t lower the performances from Brentford, because I saw them against Man City and City were also lucky to win that game.
‘And I have seen them against Liverpool and in the first 35 minutes Brentford should have taken the lead. So don’t express this [opinion about Brentford].
‘We should have done this better, I’m not happy with the performance, there should be no misunderstanding [about that]. And the players are also disappointed by the performance.
‘We should be consistent in the way we take a game, and go into a game, and perform and show more aggressiveness especially.’
