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Manchester United manager Eric Ten Hag said the club needed “high-quality players”, after admitting that the level of players available at the team was not good enough.
The Red Devils scored four goals – scored in the first 35 minutes of the match – and the team is still without any points after two matches in the English Premier League (Premier League).
The Dutch coach, who took charge of United last May, told Sky Sports that the situation was “difficult” with the team.
“We have to perform at a higher level than we did today. As a team we are going through a difficult process. This is what we did not expect.”
“We need new players, quality players. We are working towards that and we will do whatever it takes to convince them to join us,” Ten Hag added.
United have been, and still are, embroiled in a long search for high-profile players since the transfer window opened, after a disappointing season last year and a shock home defeat to Brighton in the opening season.
photo released, Getty Images
Manchester United suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Premier League
Barcelona midfielder Frankie de Jong was Ten Hag’s main target, but the 25-year-old Dutchman hinted that he would prefer a move to Chelsea if he left the Camp Nou.
An attempt to sign former Stoke striker Mark Arnatovic provoked a negative reaction from the public, and the club backed away from it.
The interest in Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, a deal that appears close to completion, has also sparked a great rejection from the United fans.
“The responsibility must fall on the team,” said Ten Hag. “I sympathize with the fans, they did everything to support us but we let them down.”
And the Manchester United coach added: “You have to play your role on the pitch as a team and as people, and that’s what we haven’t done. What I asked them to do is play with confidence and do well. We have to work on that.”
He also said: “The coach is also responsible, and he bears the greatest responsibility, and I bear that and I will work on it.”
As for the team’s goalkeeper, David de Gea, he said: “I cost my team three points.”
While Ten Hag felt the entire team was to blame for the humiliating performance against Thomas Frank’s team, De Gea blamed himself.
“I take full responsibility today, I think I cost my team three points,” the goalkeeper, who asked to take part in the post-match interview, told Sky Sports.
Josh DaSilva’s shot escaped the hands of the Spanish goalkeeper, causing Brentford’s first goal.
De Gea said: “After the first mistake and then the second, it was very difficult for my teammates. It gets complicated with every goal we conceded, I had to save the first shot, and if I had succeeded in that it would have been different.”
With this loss, Manchester United won four consecutive defeats in the Premier League, which includes the last two league games last season, and seven consecutive away matches in the league.