Erik ten Hag delivered a harsh message to Manchester United’s players, both young and experienced. Urging them to ‘demand more’ from themselves following their first pre-season friendly defeat.
United faced a 1-0 loss against Norwegian side Rosenborg in Trondheim on Monday. A limited number of first-team players, including Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Jonny Evans, participated in the opening 45 minutes. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t penetrate Rosenborg’s defense and were substituted at halftime by a group of academy prospects.
The match’s standout performer was 20-year-old goalkeeper Radek Vitek, who made several impressive saves, preventing United from trailing earlier in the game. However, Vitek, the only United player to complete the entire game, couldn’t stop Noah Holm’s 93rd-minute goal, resulting in a defeat for the team.
After the match, Ten Hag expressed his frustration, emphasizing that his teams ‘don’t play friendlies.’ Vitek, speaking to MUTV, echoed the manager’s sentiments. “We are disappointed as I feel like we should always aim for a win. The manager said we don’t play friendlies as it is in our DNA,” the former Accrington Stanley loanee revealed.
“We should demand more. We are building up now as it is only our first week of pre-season. So we are still waiting for some more boys [to arrive back] from their internationals. But as I said, in the end, all that matters is winning.”
Ten Hag also voiced his dissatisfaction with some ‘bad tackles’ from Rosenborg’s players. He told club media: “The result is not secondary. But of course we play in pre-season. But at Man United the standard has to be winning games and definitely not to lose games.
“If you can’t win, don’t lose games, but we did in the end, in the last seconds of the game. Of course, the performance is more important, but we know the performance was below [the] standard.”
Despite the defeat, Ten Hag could find some solace in Vitek’s exceptional performance, as the young Czech goalkeeper justified his manager’s faith. “It is really good that the young lads are getting the opportunity as when you step on the field you have to show yourself,” Vitek added.
“It is a big opportunity in front of a lot of people that are watching you. You have to demand the best from yourself. It is an amazing feeling as the fans have been amazing. Lots of them at our hotel, even in the stadium the crowd was amazing: a full stadium of red shirts.”
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