Maguire reveals ‘strong’ Ten Hag dressing down at half-time in Man Utd win over West Ham

Erik ten Hag had some “fairly strong” words for his Manchester United players at half-time in their FA Cup win over West Ham.

That’s according to Harry Maguire, who hailed the “relentless” effort of his team in the second half at Old Trafford, where Alejandro Garnacho and Fred scored late goals in the 3-1 win.

Asked what Ten Hag had to say after a turgid first half performance, Maguire told MUTV: “He went fairly strong, to be honest, he knew we had to up it. We knew it, or we’d lose the game.

“To come out as well and for them to score a great goal, although we thought it was out. I know you have to play to the whistle and I’m sure we’ll get a telling-off from the manager, but the last 30 minutes we found something.

“The crowd sucked the ball into the back of the net at the Stretford End. It was a tough game. The first half we weren’t at our best, a bit slow, I don’t know why. Maybe Sunday, with the celebrations, as we lacked a little bit of tempo. We spoke about the game, tonight was all about winning and progressing.

“I must say the last 30 minutes were really good, relentless from the lads and great fight. After having the goal disallowed, we could have dropped our heads and sulked. But it was relentless and three good goals. The second one is a stand-out from Garnacho, so really pleased for him and I’m sure he’s going to score more match-winners in front of the Stretford End.”

READ MORE: Sir Alex ends Marcus Rashford debate in grim omen for Man Utd rivals

While Ten Hag wasn’t pleased with United’s first half-display, the Dutch tactician ended up delighted with his team’s reaction and picked out Maguire for special praise after the game.

“Harry Maguire had a good game, [Tyrell] Malacia, [Marcel] Sabitzer, and of course Garnacho especially in the second half,” Ten Hag noted to ITV. “It was not easy as we have seen. After Sunday, it is never easy after a cup celebration and of course you have to get back to business as usual. That was our task, we did it and found a way to win. Our resilience. It was magnificent and great from the team.

“I had a strong feeling that we could win the game, and you could see the belief and the composure. There was never a moment of panic and we had bad luck with the first goal being disallowed.”