Erik ten Hag rebuked Manchester United stars for letting their standards drop after their 4-2 friendly defeat by Cadiz.
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United were 2-0 down after just 13 minutes at the Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla and, although they drew level through Anthony Martial’s penalty and Mainoo’s deflected strike either side of half-time, Cadiz won comfortably.
Ten Hag was unhappy with the first-half display and changed the entire outfield team for the second, introducing 10 academy players.
What made Ten Hag angry the most was United’s sloppy start with senior players, with full-backs Brandon Williams and Aaron Wan-Bissaka culpable on their first start under the manager.
“It has to be the standard always and, to be fair, first 15 minutes cannot happen. That is not our standard, it should not happen, so that is what we spoke about,” Ten Hag told MUTV. “We’ll do tomorrow again but we have to strike it, draw a line and move on, it cannot happen in the future.”
Ten Hag assessed the rookies’ display more sympathetically. Mainoo, Marc Jurado, Tyler Fredricson, Sam Murray and Noam Emeran all made their maiden appearance for the senior team as United fielded a team with an average age of 18-and-a-half for the restart.
Of those introduced, only Dishon Bernard, Charlie Savage, Shoretire and Charlie McNeill had made their first-team debut.
“They gave energy,” Ten Hag added. “They run, they fight, maybe not always in the right organisation, they make mistakes, they are not used to playing this level.
“It was a good lesson and when you make small mistakes they have big consequences and finally we lose the game.”
