Man Utd players left ‘dumbfounded’ by two Ten Hag decisions as they hold ‘dressing-room inquest’

The Manchester United have been left ‘dumbfounded’ by Erik ten Hag’s tactics for the first time after their loss to Manchester City, according to reports.

Their 3-0 loss to the Citizens on Sunday ended their three-match winning streak and put pressure back on Ten Hag, who is having a tricky second season at the helm.

A brace from Erling Haaland and a late tap-in from Phil Foden secured Pep Guardiola’s side all three points but Man Utd were heavily criticised by former players and pundits after the match.

Roy Keane described Man Utd as “short in every aspect of the game technically, tactically and worryingly even physically”, while Gary Neville was unhappy with Ten Hag’s subsitutions.

And The Sun claim that the Red Devils squad were just as confused as the pundits with Ten Hag ‘having his tactics questioned by Manchester United’s players for the first time’.

The report adds that the Man Utd players were ‘left dumbfounded by some of the manager’s tactics’ and ‘made their feelings known in the dressing-room inquest’.

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The Sun continued:

‘They could not understand why centre-back Victor Lindelof was played at left-back — the benched Sergio Reguilon’s specialist position.

‘Also why was Bruno Fernandes played wide — where he is less effective than his ­preferred No 10 role — when Antony is a ­natural winger?’

And former Premier League midfielder Robbie Savage insists that Man Utd are “turning into an average team” under Ten Hag but that the Dutchman should still be given until Christmas to turn it around.

Savage said: “If you look at the time Erik ten Hag has had and compare it with Ange Postecoglou at Spurs, Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton, Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool or Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the stark difference is no-one knows how Manchester United play or at least what they are trying to do.

“It’s a bit of a mess right now and while I still believe they need to give Erik ten Hag until Christmas to get things right, he’s certainly had enough time to make the club challenge and be competitive against the likes of City. They are a million miles away from that and the stat that really struck me was that in 26 years under Sir Alex Ferguson, United only lost 34 league games at home. In the 10 years since he left, they’ve now lost the same number.

“We’ve got to stop saying ‘it’s Manchester United’. The fact of the matter is that Manchester United are turning into an average team.”