Erik ten Hag baffled by Manchester United’s defensive woes

United have conceded 14 goals in their last five games and 10 in the last three, with three goals against Bayern Munich on Wednesday not enough even to earn them a point

WORK TO DO: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag during a training session at Carrington. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire

Erik ten Hag admits he is at a loss to explain Manchester United’s poor defensive performances.

The Red Devils have conceded 14 goals in their last five games and 10 in the last three, with three goals against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday not enough even to earn them a point.

United boss Ten Hag said: “We have shown that we can do it because last year we had the most clean sheets in the Premier League because of the team, because we defended very good as a team, so we have to get back to that standard.

“Of course I am pushing the team and demanding from the team, and from the start of the season, but they are human beings, not robots, so, why they are not doing it, I try to find out and I try to give the solutions and try to motivate the players to do the job.

“When you are in a period like we are in always as a manager you are asking yourself these questions. My job is to get them to do the job.” 

On United’s tendency to concede goals soon after a restart, Ten Hag added: “(We’re) not concerned but we are aware of it. Of course you can’t close your eyes for things like this so we coach the players, we coach the team in that fact.” 

Question marks have been raised about the attitude of United’s squad, with clips from the Bayern game apparently showing players not chasing back as hard as they might.

Ten Hag does not believe a lack of willingness was to blame, though, saying: “It’s always a concern when we didn’t run but I think against Bayern it was not the case.

“In certain situations yes so it’s also to recognise in which situation is it about they didn’t recognise it and didn’t make the right decisions or is it about willingness?

“Against Spurs, we didn’t run too much. But I think against Bayern we did our best from physical outputs but we didn’t always run in the right moment.

“If we bounced back like we did in Munich, you can’t say the spirit isn’t right. I think we have other problems than that.”

United's poor form has made Saturday's trip to Burnley a high-pressure occasion, and they will again be without Jadon Sancho, who remains absent from the squad.

"It depends on him," said Ten Hag. "For the rest, we are preparing for Burnley and that's our focus. He will not be in the squad."

United have not been helped by a multitude of injuries but could have Raphael Varane, Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat, and Harry Maguire back for the clash at Turf Moor.

Central to United's problems has been a lack of defensive solidity, with 14 goals conceded in their last five games.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana held his hands up after making a mistake for Bayern's first goal but Ten Hag believes the problems are collective.

"It's about team and, as a team, we don't have the results in this moment so then also individuals don't bring the performance you expect, not only one player, there are more, including the manager," he said.

"I always tell my players we attack with 11 and we defend with 11. When one or two are not doing their job, it's like a pack of cards, so that is not only one or two players."

Burnley picked up their first point on their return to the Premier League against Nottingham Forest last time out and Ten Hag is a fan of their style of play under Vincent Kompany.

He said: "As always, it's about how we play against Burnley. There's no easy games, definitely not against Burnley.

"We know how intense they play football, we know their approach. I like the approach from them, the adventure, high intensity and dynamic in their game, so we have to play our best."