Erik ten Hag dismisses Man Utd’s defensive concerns despite conceding 31 shots to Brentford
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag revealed he is not concerned by his side’s defensive solidity after conceding 31 shots to Brentford in a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
The Red Devils spent much of the game at the Gtech Community Stadium penned in and clung on for the majority of the evening, with the Bees rattling the woodwork at least three times and bringing several fine saves out of goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Mason Mount gave United the lead against the run of play deep into second-half stoppage time, only for the visitors to switch off and concede almost immediately to Kristoffer Ajer down the other end.
In his post-match press conference, Ten Hag was asked if he was worried by the number of shots United gave up.
„As long as we get results, no,“ he replied.
„I explained it once more: we defended low by times and because Brentford are very direct we lost many many second balls and we had to defend the box.
„We had a great goalkeeper, he was brilliant tonight, we have to say that also. Our results are quite consistent from January on but we concede shots, but we don’t concede so many goals.“
Ten Hag added: „We didn’t deserve to win but we showed resilience all through the game. But in points of aggression, Brentford were better. We should show more passion and desire in many moments in the game. But when you are winning you should bring it over the line.
„You can never compare such levels and performances [to their 4-3 win against Liverpool] but also when you don’t play well you still have to win – we did it almost. That is my big disappointment that we didn’t bring it over the line.
„We didn’t play well but there was spirit, there was fight, but not enough. It was enough to get the goal, 1-0, and before that we had a big chance for Rasmus Hojlund.
„We have many senior players we should all stand up and we also take responsibility for this.“
United now sit 11 points behind Aston Villa in fourth and eight adrift of Tottenham in fifth after they both won earlier in the day.