- Red Devils suffered humbling loss in Spain
- Individual mistakes proved costly
- Coach demanding an immediate response
WHAT HAPPENED? The Spain international goalkeeper endured a continental outing to forget back on home soil, with his individual errors contributing to a humbling 3-0 defeat for the Red Devils that has dumped them out of Europe 5-2 on aggregate. De Gea’s hospital pass to Harry Maguire inside the opening eight minutes allowed Youssef En-Nesyri to capitalise on some shocking defending and break the deadlock, while the United custodian then gifted the ball to the same player late on as he was left stranded outside of his penalty area with an unguarded net behind him.
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WHAT THEY SAID: Ten Hag can appreciate why questions are being asked of De Gea’s display, but has said of the man that has kept more clean sheets for United than any keeper in the club’s history and one that currently leads the Premier League Golden Glove race in 2022-23: “He’s the one with the most clean sheets in the Premier League, so that shows he’s a very capable goalkeeper.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ten Hag was eager to avoid pointing fingers at individuals after seeing another bid for silverware come to a close against Sevilla, with the Dutch coach saying of collective failings: “We have to learn. We have to start games better, more desire, passion, composure on the ball. And when we have a setback we have to deal with it and get back on the ball. We have to be better. It is not about the playing skills. It is about character. They had more willingness to win and that can’t be, I think it is unacceptable. We have to pick the players up. But we also have to face that we let ourselves down, we have let the fans down. If you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need character.”
IN TWO PHOTOS:
GettyNext Match
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT? United will remain in knockout competition when returning to action on Sunday, with Ten Hag now readying his side for an FA Cup semi-final date with Brighton at Wembley.
