'We got hammered' - Ten Hag blames Man Utd players for Palace humiliation

Tom Weber

• Updated: 6 May 2024 22:53 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag did not hold back when assessing his side's embarrassing result against Crystal Palace.

The pressure on the Dutchman is once again ramping up after his side were completely dominated by Oliver Glasner's brilliant Crystal Palace. Since the Austrian took over the Eagles in late February, his side have won a whopping eight points more than Man Utd despite only playing one more Premier League game.

Glasner has managed to instil a clear idea of how to play in his side in just a few weeks, something that is still not truly visible in Ten Hag's lacklustre Man Utd after two seasons in charge. This was blatantly evident when Palace thoroughly demolished United 4-0 at Selhurst Park.

Ironically, Man Utd target Michael Olise scored twice - completely humiliating 'shambolic' makeshift centre-back Casemiro on the first goal - while full-back Daniel Munoz notched two assists, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell also getting on the scoresheet.

Man Utd are now on course to finish on fewer points than they managed under David Moyes a decade ago and unless they can get five points against Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton, Ten Hag's men will record the lowest points tally in Man Utd's Premier League history.

Ten Hag blasts team

The result against Palace leaves Man Utd languishing in eighth - behind Chelsea (!) - and with a hilariously bad goal difference of -3. There is a real chance now of the Red Devils missing out on European football altogether let alone just the Champions League.

Predictably, Erik ten Hag - who appears to be increasingly morphing into Jose Mourinho - threw his team under the bus, claiming that they weren't up for the fight and got downright hammered.

"It's obvious," he told Sky Sports. "It's underperforming. We didn't act how we wanted to. It's not good enough. The fans were all the way behind us, we should have kept fighting like the fans did."

"There are always reasons - today we have huge problems. But we have to deal with it and we should have done that. They didn't bring it on the pitch and we got hammered."

Regarding Casemiro's dreadful showing at centre-back, Ten Hag said: "You can't put it on one player. It's a team performance. We don't follow the rules, we don't adapt, we had five players across at the ball for their throw-in - it's not possible."

"We still have nine points to play for and we have to play for them. I will keep fighting [to turn it around]. I prepared the team as best as I could do, but it was by far not good enough. I will find the energy and I will prepare them for Sunday's game [against Arsenal]."